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THE   STORY   OF    DARTMOUTH 


OP  CALIF.   LIBRARY,   LOS  ANGELES 


.LEAZAR  WHEELOCK  WAS  A  VERY 

PIOUS  MAN; 
HE  WENT  INTO  THE  WILDERNESS 

TO  TEACH  THE  INDIAN, 
WITH  A  GRADUS  AD  PARNASSUM,  A 

BIBLE  AND  A  DRUM, 
AND  FIVE  HUNDRED  GALLONS  OF 

NEW  ENQLAND  RUM. " 

-  DARTMOUTH  COLLSCI  SOHG  - 


President's  House 
Frontispiece 


BY 


WILDER    DWIGHT   QUINT 


WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS     BY 

JOHN   ALBERT  SEAFORD 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,   BROWN,   AND   COMPANY 

1914 


Copyright,  1914, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved 
Published,  October,  1914 


THE   COLONIAL   PRESS 
C.   H.    SIMONDS  CO.,    BOSTON,   tT.  S. 


PREFACE 

I  HAVE  to  acknowledge  gratefully  my  indebted- 
ness in  writing  this  "  Story  of  Dartmouth  "  to  the 
remarkable  "  History  of  Dartmouth  College,  Volume 
I,"  by  the  late  Frederick  Chase,  and  the  equally 
excellent  "  History  of  Dartmouth  College,  Volume 
II,"  by  John  K.  Lord.  Other  useful  and  interesting 
material  I  have  found  in  the  Rev.  Francis  Brown's 
"  Origins  of  Dartmouth  College;  "  Professor  Charles 
F.  Emerson's  historical  sketch  introductory  to  the 
Dartmouth  General  Catalogue  of  1911;  "  The  Dart- 
mouth Roll  of  Honor,"  by  Redington  and  Hodgkins; 
"  Dartmouth  Athletics,"  by  John  H.  Bartlett,  '94; 
Dr.  W.  T.  Smith's  "  Hanover  Forty  Years  Ago;  " 
Crosby's  "  First  Half  Century  of  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege "  and  various  letters,  diaries,  and  magazines. 

w.  D.  Q. 

October  i, 


21  ru  9«8 


CONTENTS 

:HAPTER  PAGE 

I.  "  The  Indian  Charity  School  "...          i 

II.     The  Evolution 17 

III.  "  Vox  Clamantis  in  Deserto "  .        .        32 

IV.  Getting  Under  Way 40 

V.  The  Reign  of  the  Crown  Prince          .        .       63 

VI.  The  Great  "  Case "                ....        88 

VII.  Dana  and  Tyler       .                ....      115 

VIII.  Nathan  Lord  and  his  "  Young  Gentlemen  "     127 

IX.  The  "Dartmouth  Roll  of  Honor"  .  .150 

X.  The  First  City  President  .  .  .  .166 

XI.  The  Man  of  Iron 183 

XII.  The  Great  Awakening 199 

XIII.  "  The  Old  Traditions  "          ....     222 

XIV.  "  Dartmouth  Out-O'-Doors  "...     239 
XV.  What  Men  Do  at  Dartmouth     .        .        .255 

XVI.  Why  Men  Go  to  Dartmouth       .        .        .268 
Index                                                                      281 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

President's  House Frontispiece 

FACING    PAGE 

Rollins  Chapel 20 

The  Old  Bridge 32 

Dartmouth  Hall 74 

College  Church 90 

Wheeler  Hall 106 

Webster  Hall 114 

Hanover  Inn 130 

North  Massachusetts  Hall 166 

The  Tower 188 

College  Hall 204 

Tuck  Hall 210 

Wilson  Hall  (Library) 240 

The  Alumni  Gymnasium 252 

Reed  and  Bartlett  Halls 264 

Observatory  Slope 272 


THE 

STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

CHAPTER   I 


ON  the  evening  of  February  6,  1766,  an  oddly 
assorted  pair  of  Americans  reached  London, 
the  great  Babylon  of  its  day,  after  a  seventeen-hour 
coach  ride  from  Salisbury.  Since  the  twenty-third 
of  December,  the  two  had  been  on  their  journey 
from  Boston,  in  the  far-away  colony  of  Massachu- 
setts. Neptune  and  Aeolus  had  played  them  scurvy 
tricks.  Their  passage  in  the  ship  Boston  Packet, 
Captain  John  Marshall,  toward  the  cost  of  which 
John  Hancock,  one  of  the  ship  owners,  had  remitted 
five  pounds,  had  been  sufficiently  trying  to  men  of 
little  marine  experience;  to  add  exasperation  to 
physical  ill-being,  an  easterly  gale  had  kept  them 
from  port  for  twenty-two  days,  and  within  two 
hundred  miles  of  Land's  End.  But  on  February  3 
they  were  landed  at  Brixam  in  a  fishing-boat. 

By  horses'  backs  and   coaches   they  made  their 

1 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

way  to  the  metropolis,  reaching  it  when  oil  wicks 
were  guttering  in  the  street  lamps,  and  torches 
flaring  as  the  link-boys  rushed  hither  and  thither, 
like  the  saucy  young  imps  of  darkness  they  were. 
That  the  travelers  from  America  were  confused, 
startled,  and  astounded  may  be  taken  for  granted, 
but  need  not  be;  their  letters  and  diaries  give  notable 
testimony  to  the  perturbed  state  of  their  feelings 
at  being  projected  into  London  life  for  the  first 
time. 

These  men  could  and  did  attract  the  attention 
of  the  London  crowds,  even  at  a  time  when  it  was 
the  fashion  to  pretend  a  cool  indifference  to  any- 
thing but  the  doings  of  the  "  Macaroni."  Samson 
Occom,  the  older  of  the  two,  was  a  full-blooded 
Mohegan  Indian  from  Connecticut.  With  his 
lithe,  athletic  figure,  his  strong,  copper-tinted  face, 
his  straight  black  hair  hanging  over  his  shoulders, 
his  broad,  white  bib-tie  and  sober  clerical  clothes, 
he  made  a  picture  of  contradiction  that  caught  the 
eye  of  serious  and  frivolous  alike. 

Occom's  companion,  Nathaniel  Whitaker,  was 
tall,  handsome,  and  distinguished  in  bearing.  He, 
too,  was  a  man  of  God  of  that  robust  and  somewhat 
quarrelsome  type  that  New  England  produced  so 
prodigally  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. He  was  a  Princeton  College  Presbyterian, 


'THE    INDIAN    CHARITY    SCHOOL" 

and  destined  later  to  raise  his  voice  in  fiery  denun- 
ciation of  Toryism;  to  squabble  with  his  people 
in  every  pastorate  he  held;  to  be  accused  of  trying 
to  "  corner  "  the  wine  and  raisin  market  in  Nor- 
wich, Connecticut,  while  a  pastor  there,  and  to  be 
called  by  the  historian  of  that  town  "  a  worldly 
man  and  frequently  irregular."  Possibly  the  Rev- 
erend Mr.  Whitaker  was  a  too-jaunty  shepherd  for 
Puritan  flocks;  but  his  qualities  certainly  gave  him 
efficiency  for  his  London  mission. 

Samson  Occom,  "  the  glory  of  the  Indian  nation," 
and  Nathaniel  Whitaker,  of  more  doubtful  glory, 
had  come  to  London  to  stir  up  subscriptions  for  the 
"  Indian  Charity  School,"  located  in  Lebanon, 
Connecticut,  and  the  direct  ancestor  of  Dartmouth 
College.  This  institution  was  owned  and  conducted 
by  Eleazar  Wheelock,  Yale  1733,  already  a  noted 
pulpiteer,  pamphleteer,  controversialist,  and  edu- 
cator. The  pilgrims  were  accredited  to  George 
Whitefield,  that  flaming  sword  of  Zion,  who  knew 
Wheelock  well  and  was  eager  to  help  him  in  his 
great  plans  for  educating  and  then  Christianizing 
the  young  savages  of  the  eastern  border  of  America. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  —  though  they  themselves  could 
not  have  known  it  —  they  were  on  their  way  to 
the  highly  respectable  and  God-fearing  nobleman 
who  was  to  give  his  name  to  the  collegiate  child  of 

3 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

Eleazar  Wheelock's  mind  and  heart.  After  Whee- 
lock,  the  "  Great  Awakening,"  the  American  Indian, 
and  the  British  peerage  formed  the  trio  most  influ- 
ential in  the  founding  of  Dartmouth. 

These  American  ambassadors  from  the  learned 
Connecticut  parson  and  school-teacher  spent  their 
first  somewhat  disturbed  night  in  London  at  the 
house  of  Dennis  De  Berdt,  a  rich  merchant  who 
had  been  in  correspondence  with  Wheelock  through 
Whitefield's  influence.  The  next  morning  they 
were  taken  to  the  house  of  the  revivalist,  afterward 
being  provided  with  a  furnished  house  hard  by  the 
Temple  through  his  generous  effort  for  their  com- 
fort. 

Evidently  Whitefield  had  long  held  prophetic 
vision  of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  as  one  who  would 
listen  to  the  Macedonian  call  from  Wheelock  and 
his  Indians;  that  if  he  would  not  go  over  and  help 
them,  he  would  at  least  provide  some  of  the  sinews 
for  the  holy  war  and  induce  others  to  do  the  same. 
The  Americans  had  been  in  London  hardly  a  week 
before  he  arranged  a  meeting  with  the  peer,  who  was 
at  that  time  First  Lord  of  Trade  and  Plantations 
and  afterward  (1772)  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies.  Says  Occom  in  his  diary:  "  Monday, 
Febru'  loth,  Mr.  Whitefield  took  Mr.  Whitaker 
and  I  in  his  Coach  and  Introduced  us  to  my  Lord 

4 


"THE  INDIAN  CHARITY  SCHOOL" 

Dartmouth,  and  he  apear'd  like  a  Worthy  Lord 
indeed  Mr.  Whitefield  says  he  is  a  Christian  Lord 
and  an  uncommon  one."  l 

But  Occom's  naive  approval  of  the  second  Earl 
of  Dartmouth  did  not  extend  to  Londoners  en  masse. 
"  Last  Sabbath  Evening,"  continues  the  diary,  "  I 
walk'd  with  Mr.  Wright  to  Cary  a  letter  to  my 
Lord  Dartmouth  and  Saw  Such  Confution  as  I 
never  dreamt  of,  there  was  some  at  Churches  Sing- 
ing p'g  and  Preaching,  in  the  Streets  Some  Cursing, 
Swearing  and  Damming  one  another,  others  was 
holloaing,  Whestling,  talking,  gigling,  and  Laugh- 
ing, and  Coaches  and  footmen  passing  and  repass- 
ing,  Crossing  and  Cress-Crossing,  and  the  poor 
Begers  Praying  Crying  and  Beging  up  on  their 
Knees." 

Of  the  two,  Whitaker  was  the  more  practised 
man  of  the  world.  It  is  not  on  record  that  any  of 
the  sights  of  London,  either  sacred  or  profane,  hurt 
his  sensibilities  in  any  way.  He  knew  that  his 
mission  was  to  raise  money,  and  he  realized  the 

1  That  closing  statement,  while  evidently  written  in  sober  earnest 
by  the  Indian  minister,  was  the  cause  of  tremendous  hilarity  when 
quoted  by  Professor  Francis  Brown  in  his  address,  The  Origins  of  Dart- 
month  College,  at  the  proceedings  incident  to  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  the  new  Dartmouth  Hall,  October  26,  1904.  The  sixth  Earl 
of  Dartmouth,  who  was  seated  on  the  platform,  was  the  first  to  see  the 
joke,  and  his  roars  of  laughter  belied  the  reputation  of  his  countrymen 
as  to  quick  appreciation  of  humor. 

5 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

value  of  a  friend  in  high  places.  With  all  his  ap- 
parent lack  of  tact  —  Whitefield  termed  him  "  for- 
ward," but  admitted  that  he  was  "  certainly  very 
indefatigable  "  -  he  was  a  good  promoter  and 
doubtless  knew  something  of  the  science  of  adver- 
tising, since  Occom  soon  became  quite  the  rage  in 
London,  where  he  was  mimicked  on  the  stage.  The 
Mohegan  preacher  "  little  thought,"  he  wrote,  "  I 
should  ever  come  to  that  honor."  But  if  the  un- 
godly played  upon  his  fame,  the  godly  did  some- 
thing to  atone  therefor  by  naming  a  popular  new 
hymn-tune  Lebanon  in  honor  of  his  American  place 
of  residence,  and  by  singing  his  own  hymn,  Awaked 
by  Sinai's  Awjul  Sound,  which  is  still  in  use  in  some 
of  our  church  collections. 

Lord  Dartmouth's  favor  having  been  won,  to- 
gether with  an  initial  subscription  of  fifty  pounds 
for  the  Indian  Charity  School,  the  road  to  success 
was  well  opened.  Under  date  of  March  19,  1766, 
Whitaker  wrote  to  Wheelock: 

"  Mr.  Whitefield  is  entirely  friendly,  and  by  his 
friendship  I  have  my  Lord  Dartmouth's,  so  our 
way  to  the  throne  is  very  short.  The  kg.  hath  not 
seen  Air.  Occom  as  yet  because  of  this  plagy  stamp 
act.  But  now  thats  all  over  I  expect  he  will  see  him 
as  soon  as  Mr.  Occom  is  well  of  ye  smallpox,  which 
tis  likely  will  be  in  8  or  10  days.  The  K.  has  prom- 

6 


'THE    INDIAN    CHARITY   SCHOOL" 

ised  £4OO-/ace,  when  this  is  done  and  comes  to 
be  known;  then  the  carnal  Presbyterians  will  be 
obliged  to  follow,  as  well  as  the  Church  folks." 

The  king  finally  gave  two  hundred  pounds,  and 
there  is  a  poetically  pleasing,  but  unconfirmed  tra- 
dition that  Occom  preached  before  the  royal  George. 
However,  it  is  known  that  the  Indian  and  his  clerical 
manager  met  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who 
then  seemed  friendly  enough,  though  he  afterward 
observed  that  "  as  the  Dissenters  did  not  help  us, 
neither  will  we  help  them,"  and  the  Bishop  of 
Gloucester,  who,  as  Whitaker  notes,  "  would  not 
give  us  a  penny  nor  ask  us  to  sit  down!  "  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  hostility  of  the  established  church 
toward  the  Connecticut  enterprise  grew  marked 
as  time  went  on. 

But  Dartmouth's  patronage  was  powerful  enough 
to  overcome  many  sneers  and  even  threats  by 
others.  With  it  came  the  interest  of  Robert  Keen, 
a  woolen-draper  who  was  generous  to  the  cause, 
and  John  Thornton,  a  rich  Clapham  merchant, 
whose  portrait,  now  in  possession  of  the  college, 
presents  a  perfect  picture  of  the  bluff,  stormy,  big- 
hearted  father  of  the  Old  Comedies. 

Thornton  was  an  eccentric  genius,  with  a  penchant 
for  giving  away  money  that  would  have  brought  a 
less  wealthy  man  to  the  almshouse.  He  would  lend 

7 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

large  sums  to  young  tradesmen  without  security; 
he  would  amuse  himself  by  buying  church  livings 
and  making  gifts  of  them  to  struggling  clergymen; 
he  would  publish  religious  books  at  his  own  expense 
and  send  them  all  over  the  world  in  his  ships.  To 
a  man  of  his  temperament,  the  Indian  Charity 
School  idea,  with  its  substratum  of  religious  prose- 
lyting, must  have  appealed  strongly.  The  redskin 
preacher,  who  was  so  great  a  factor  in  the  money- 
raising  because  "  he  was  himself  the  embodiment 
of  his  cause,"  was  a  better  argument  for  Thornton 
than  a  dozen  polished  exhorters  could  possibly  have 
been. 

Occom's  activity,  doubtless  kept  warm  by  Whit- 
aker's  superior  energy  and  sense  of  publicity  values, 
was  extraordinary.  During  their  stay  in  Great 
Britain,  he  preached  over  three  hundred  sermons, 
and  so  well  did  he  comport  himself  in  the  pulpit 
that  he  aroused  visions  of  a  great-  conversion  of  the 
Indian  race.  He  had  something  of  the  redskin's 
native  eloquence  and  imagination,  and  he  was 
practical  enough  to  know  that  he  wanted  money 
and  to  ask  for  it.  Contributions  flowed  in.  All 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men  and  women,  from  the 
throne  to  the  peasant's  farmhold,  gave  to  this 
strange,  new  cause.  There  were  twenty-five  hundred 
names  on  the  final  list,  and  not  the  least  appealing 

8 


to  the  Dartmouth  of  to-day  are  the  entries:  "A 
Widow,  55  "  and  "  Two  Widows,  ros.  6d."  l 

Before  coming  across  the  sea  on  their  quest  of 
gold,  Whitaker  and  Occom  had  been  warned  of  the 
not  too  Christian  animosities  that  lay  between  the 
two  great  missionary  societies  of  London  and  of 
Edinburgh,  "  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  "  and  "  The  Society  in 
Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge." 
Wheelock  had  received  money  from  each  for  his 
Lebanon  school  and  had  diplomatically  kept  peace 
between  their  Boston  branches.  It  was  Whitaker's 
business  to  do  the  same  in  England,  and  he  seems 
to  have  been  fairly  successful.  Even  Whitefield 
counseled  deception;  Whitaker  must  wholly  dis- 
avow any  connection  with  the  Scotch  Board,  for 
Lord  Dartmouth  himself  "  would  by  no  means  lift 
for  it "  —  and  he  did  it  like  a  gentleman  while 
below  the  Scottish  border. 

In  Scotland,  where  the  two  later  made  a  success- 
ful tour,  it  was  a  different  story.  At  Edinburgh, 
the  Scotch  Society  made  a  proposition  to  assume 
the  complete  patronage  of  the  Indian  Charity 
School,  promising  more  subscriptions  if  Wheelock 

1  Among  the  earlier  gifts  in  America  to  the  Indian  Charity  School 
was  one  marked  as  coming  from  Benedict  Arnold,  Esq.,  amounting  to 
•"  a  large  proportion  of  the  profits  of  a  venture  which  he  sent  to  sea." 

9 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

would  give  up  the  English  allegiance.  Wheelock's 
worldly  sense  thought  the  scheme  "  worth  consid- 
ering, as  perhaps  we  can  control  both,  and  so  have 
two  strings  to  the  bow."  The  Scotch  Society  did, 
in  fact,  become  the  trustee  of  the  collections  made 
in  Scotland,  and  to  this  day  has  a  fund  for  "  cloth- 
ing, boarding  and  maintaining  such  Indians  as  are 
designed  for  missionaries  and  schoolmasters  "  at 
Dartmouth,  which  moneys  they  do  not  know  how 
to  use.1 

After  the  Scotch  tour,  the  two  propagandists 
thought  of  Ireland  as  a  fertile  field  for  their  labors, 
and  went  across  the  channel.  But  here  Whitaker 
found  that  for  once  he  had  been  overreached  in 
enterprise,  and  that  one  Morgan  Edwards  was  there 
gathering  in  the  pounds  and  shillings  for  a  "  Bap- 
tist college  to  be  set  up  in  Rhode  Island  "  (after- 
ward Brown  University).  Whitaker  honorably  left 
the  ground  to  his  predecessor,  and  he  and  his  pro- 
tege returned  to  England  by  the  next  ship.  . 

In  truth,  neither  Wheelock  nor  the  friends  of  the 
Indian  Charity  School  had  any  cause  to  complain 
of  the  results  thus  far  attained.  By  the  autumn  of 
1766,  the  English  fund  amounted  to  five  thousand 


1  The  last  Indian  graduate  of  Dartmouth  was  Charles  A.  Eastman, 
of  the  class  of  1887,  the  Sioux  who  is  now  well  known  as  a  physician 
and  author. 

10 


"THE  INDIAN   CHARITY  SCHOOL" 

pounds,  a  goodly  sum  for  that  day.  So  goodly  was 
it  that  many  of  the  donors  began  to  grow  restless. 
How  was  it  to  be  administered  and  by  whom? 
Was  a  man  in  distant  America,  whom  not  one  of 
them  had  ever  seen,  to  be  given  control  of  so  much  ? 
Who  knew  that  Whitaker  would  turn  it  over  intact 
to  Wheelock.  The  demand  for  a  board  of  trustees 
began  to  be  heard.  At  first  neither  Lord  Dart- 
mouth nor  Whitefield  favored  the  plan.  They  had 
implicit  faith  in  Wheelock  and  believed  that  all  the 
money  should  be  placed  in  his  hands,  he  to  make 
immediately  a  will  that  should  provide  for  the 
fund's  use  in  the  event  of  his  death  and  for  naming 
of  a  successor.  "  You  must  immediately  make  your 
will  and  fix  your  Successor,  to  give  him  the  monies 
in  trust  for  the  School,"  Whitaker  sent  word  to 
him. 

Wheelock  wrote  that  this  was  satisfactory,  and 
that  he  would  name  Whitaker  as  his  Elisha.  It  was 
probably  a  happy  circumstance  that  the  mantle  was 
not  so  to  fall.  Whitaker's  subsequent  career  was 
not  such  as  to  suggest  a  very  pleasing  picture  of 
him  as  president  of  Dartmouth  College,  although 
he  might  have  been  the  cause  of  no  more  trouble 
than  was  Wheelock's  own  son,  as  will  appear  later. 

However,  the  trusteeship  scheme  won  ground 
rapidly.  In  June,  Whitaker,  who  scented  the  com- 

11 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

ing  bondage,  wrote  to  his  chief:  "  A  charter  is  not 
necessary  —  the  most  of  the  Societies  here  are  self- 
formed  and  yet  some  have  very  large  funds,  yet  I 
will  try  to  obtain  a  charter,  if  friends  will  agree  — 
but  I  know  you  will  object  that  it  will  tie  your 
hands.  The  Serious  here  are  sick  of  trusts." 

The  last  sentence  has  a  curiously  modern  sound. 
,  The  "  Serious  "  are  still  with  us. 

Returning  to  London  from  a  tour  of  the  western 
counties  of  England,  which  proved  to  be  a  com- 
forting money-getter,  Whitaker  and  Occom  found 
that  the  trust  had  been  arranged  and  its  nine  mem- 
bers chosen.  Lord  Dartmouth  was  president;  the 
jovial  plutocrat,  John  Thornton,  was  to  handle  the 
finances,  and  Robert  Keen  was  to  be  the  secretary. 
It  was  a  strong  board,  hardly  to  be  bettered  through- 
out the  whole  of  England  in  its  neat  balance  of 
varied  humans  and  their  diverse  influences.  Whit- 
aker surrendered  to  it  at  once,  as  indeed  he  knew 
he  must,  and  Wheelock  a  little  later,  though  with 
many  pangs,  for  he  feared  that  the  absent  treat- 
ment his  little  institution  might  receive  from 
trustees  thousands  of  miles  away  might  make  his 
work  futile.  But  he  knew  when  to  yield  diplomat- 
ically. "  The  gentlemen  of  ye  Trust,"  he  wrote  to 
Whitaker,  November  28,  1767,  "  shewed  a  laudable 
and  Christian  Integrity  toward  ye  Redeemer's 

12 


"THE   INDIAN   CHARITY  SCHOOL" 

cause   as    ye   matter   appeared    to   them  —  I    never 
blamed  them  so  much  as  in  a  tho't." 

The  work  of  the  Mohegan  minister  and  his  tireless 
protector  was  now  nearing  its  end.  The  freshness 
of  Occom's  personal  appeal  was  wearing  away,  and 
there  were  signs  that  the  movement  was  going 
stale.  Unfortunately,  too,  the  almost  inevitable 
scandal  accompanying  the  raising  of  educational 
funds  in  those  days  made  its  appearance  here.  It 
came  from  a  misunderstanding,  but  had  an  ugly 
look  for  a  time.  It  appears  that  Wheelock,  believing 
that  the  disposal  of  all  the  moneys  collected  would 
be  by  his  own  hands,  had  written  Whitaker  early  in 
1766: 

You  are  hereby  empowered  to  remit  in  goods,  to 
the  amount  of  two  or  three,  thousand  pounds  lawful 
money,  for  the  Supply  of  the  Indian  Charity  School 
under  my  care  and  for  the  missionaries,  from  time  to 
time,  upon  the  credit  of  the  donations  given  in  Europe 
for  that  purpose,  and  to  assure  the  merchants  of  whom 
you  have  said  goods,  that  upon  your  advice  of  them 
I  will  draw  orders  upon  persons  in  whose  hands  the 
donations  are  for  the  payment  of  the  same. 

That  seemed  fair  and  well;  the  trouble  was  that 
the  trustees,  when  they  came  into  power,  were  not 
informed  of  the  plan.  Opening  some  letters  to 
Whitaker  from  a  Mr.  Eells,  a  friend  and  co-worker 

13 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

of  Wheelock's,  they  found  various  mention  of  this 
plan.  They  at  once  thought  they  scented  a  swindle, 
dishonored  one  of  Wheelock's  drafts  that  came  over 
about  that  time,  and  sent  him  this  stinging  rebuke: 

MR.   ELEAZAR  WHEELOCK. 

REV.  SIR,  —  We  must  acknowledge  we  have  been 
very  much  alarmed  at  finding  some  clandestine  deal- 
ings betwixt  the  Rev.  Mr.  Eells,  of  Stonington,  and 
Mr.  Whitaker,  which  had  we  been  apprised  of,  we 
should  have  declined  accepting  the  trust;  and  we  con- 
sider it  in  such  an  iniquitous  light  that  if  it  is  not  put 
a  stop  to,  we  shall  decline  acting  any  further  as  trustees 
for  your  school;  which  we  desire  therefore  you  would 
see  immediately  done,  and  then  we  shall  rejoice  to  give 
you  all  the  assistance  we  can. 

Even  the  faithful  Whitefield  was  furious. 

"  I  think  the  scheme  concocted  with  Mr.  Eells 
very  iniquitous  and  exceedingly  imprudent,"  he 
wrote  to  Wheelock.  -  "  How  came  you  to  draw  so 
many  hundreds  this  last  year,  and  why  no  account 
of  the  disbursements?  I  hope  no  money  is  lodged 
in  traders'  hands.  If  it  is,  it  must  be  drawn  out, 
expended  and  accounted  for,  before  any  more  is 
transmitted." 

Wheelock,  acknowledging  that  the  thing  looked 
"  shocking  "  in  its  nakedness,  was  able  to  dress  it 
with  such  reasonable  explanations  that  the  trustees 

14 


'THE   INDIAN   CHARITY  SCHOOL" 

were  satisfied  with  his  honesty.  They  continued  to 
mistrust  Whitaker,  however,  and  demanded  that 
Wheelock  change  his  will,  cutting  out  the  suspected 
parson  from  the  succession  and  bequeathing  every- 
thing to  the  board  of  trustees  in  England,  which 
was  to  have  a  veto  power  over  an  American  board 
of  eight. 

Under  the  lash  of  necessity  Wheelock  acquiesced. 
He  writhed,  for  he  had  not  the  meekness  of  a  pro- 
verbial Moses;  but  his  yielding  was  in  the  end  a 
blessing.  And  it  is  but  fair  to  the  English  trustees 
to  say  that  they  were  ever  sensible,  liberal,  and 
decent  toward  Wheelock  during  the  whole  life  of 
the  trust,  which  ended  in  1775,  when  the  collections 
were  all  expended.  Lord  Dartmouth,  if  perhaps 
regarded  as  something  of  a  prig  by  the  roaring, 
stout-drinking,  fox-hunting  types  of  the  British 
nobility  of  his  time,  was  a  gentleman  and  a  good 
friend  of  America.  He  doubtless  influenced  the 
other  members  of  the  board  to  fair  treatment  of  the 
Charity  Indian  School  and  its  somewhat  irascible 
preceptor. 

In  April,  1768,  the  Charity  School  collectors  sailed 
for  home,  arriving  at  Boston  in  eight  weeks.  They 
had  easier  weather,  and  their  spirits  were  high. 
No  wonder.  In  their  two  and  a  half  years'  pilgrim- 
age they  had  been  instrumental  in  getting  together 

15 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  conversion  of  the  In- 
dian over  eleven  thousand  pounds.  No  school  in 
America  had  ever  won  so  handsome  an  amount  in 
England.  Wheelock's  confidence  in  the  drawing 
power  of  Occom  had  been  justified.  His  first  pupil 
had  paid  his  debt  many  times  over. 


16 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    EVOLUTION 

WHILE  Samson  Occom  and  Nathaniel  Whit- 
aker  were  tapping  the  English  rocks  and 
bringing  forth  such  pleasing  streams  of  gold  for  the 
Indian  Charity  School,  Eleazar  Wheelock  was 
wrestling  mightily  with  the  angel  of  discontent, 
despite  the  fact  that  he  had  turned  out  some  very 
fair  specimens  of  Anglicized  and  Christianized 
Indians.  One  of  these  was  Joseph  Brant,  the  great 
chief  of  later  days  and  one  of  the  ablest  redskins 
civilization  ever  produced.  Others  were  Joseph 
Woolley,  David  Fowler,  and  Hezekiah  Calvin,  all 
three  of  whom  had  been  sent  out  as  missionary- 
teachers  to  the  Mohawks.  They  had  the  valuable 
favor  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  that  picturesque 
Irishman  who  lived  in  baronial  style  at  Johnson 
Hall  in  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  became  a  quasi- 
lord  of  the  manor  to  the  Indians  of  the  Six  Nations 
by  reason  of  his  tact,  his  fairness,  and  his  infinite 
knowledge  of  their  language,  thoughts,  and  habits. 

17 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

In  October,  1765,  Wheelock's  "  boys  "  in  the 
field  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  pupils  all 
told.  One  of  Wheelock's  white  pupils,  Samuel 
Kirkland,  who  was  to  be  the  father  of  a  president 
of  Harvard  College,  was  already  with  the  Oneidas 
and  doing  splendid  service  —  so  splendid  that 
Wheelock  seems  to  have  been  jealous  of  his  rising 
fame,  and  at  one  time  feared  that  the  English  board 
would  have  been  pleased  to  oust  him  from  control 
of  the  Charity  School  funds  in  favor  of  his  young 
graduate. 

Wheelock  saw  with  uneasiness  that  the  Indian 
teachers  had  not  been  so  successful  and  that  they 
were  not  overmuch  in  love  with  their  work.  Fowler, 
writing  from  "  Canavarohaie  in  Oneida,"  under 
date  of  June  15,  1765,  thus  aired  his  grievances: 

This  is  the  twelfth  day  since  I  began  to  keep  my  school, 
and  I  have  put  eight  of  my  scholars  into  the  third  page 
of  the  spelling  book.  ...  I  never  saw  children  exceed 
these  in  learning.  The  number  of  my  scholars  is  twenty- 
six,  when  they  are  all  present,  but  it  is  difficult  to  keep 
them  together;  they  are  often  roving  about  from  place 
to  place  to  get  something  to  live  on.  Provisions  are  very 
scarce  with  them.  I  am  also  teaching  a  singing-school. 
They  take  great  pleasure  in  learning  to  sing;  we  can 
already  carry  three  parts  of  several  tunes.  ...  I  have 
been  treated  very  kindly  since  I  came  to  this  place.  .  .  . 
My  cooks  are  as  nasty  as  hogs,  —  their  clothes  are  black 
and  greasy  as  my  shoes,  their  hands  are  as  dirty  as  my 

18 


THE   EVOLUTION 

feet;  but  they  cleanse  them  by  kneading  bread.  Their 
hands  will  be  clean  after  kneading  three  or  four  loaves 
of  bread.  I  am  obliged  to  eat  whatever  they  give  me,  for 
fear  they  will  be  displeased  with  me.  After  this  month  I 
shall  try  to  clean  some  of  them,  for  I  must  move  along  by 
degrees.  If  I  once  get  out  with  them,  it  is  all  over  with 
me. 

Wheelock  was  coming  to  realize  that  Indian  was 
a  poor  mentor  for  Indian,  and  his  dissatisfaction 
grew  with  several  fresh  reverses  in  the  field.  Though 
his  training-school  at  Lebanon  was  prosperous 
enough,  he  felt  that  the  work  of  the  kingdom  lay 
in  the  wilderness,  and  he  saw  that  he  was  not  get- 
ting results.  He  had  sent  to  the  Onondagas  his 
oldest  son,  Ralph,  who  was  now  heir  apparent  by 
the  terms  of  the  will  changed  at  the  order  of  the 
English  trustees.  The  fond  father  was  singularly 
misguided  as  to  the  character  of  his  son,  who  lacked 
everything  that  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  should 
have  had  in  the  way  of  tact,  forbearance,  and  a 
sense  of  justice,  and  who  made  redskin  enemies 
faster  than  the  elder  Wheelock  could  make  friends. 
Joseph  Brant  told  a  story  of  him  that  illustrates  the 
point. 

One  day,  according  to  Brant,  Ralph  brusquely 
ordered  a  Mohawk  half-breed  at  the  Lebanon  school, 
William  (Major)  by  name,  and  an  illegitimate  son 

19 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

of  Sir  William  Johnson  himself,  to  saddle  his  horse 
for  him.  William  refused  on  the  ground  that  he 
was  not  there  for  any  such  menial  purpose,  and  that 
he  was  a  gentleman's  son. 

"  Do  you  know  what  a  gentleman  is?  "  sneeringly 
asked  the  young  Wheelock. 

"  I  do,"  promptly  returned  William,  doubtless 
with  the  picture  of  his  titled  father  in  mind.  "  A 
gentleman  is  a  person  who  keeps  race-horses  and 
drinks  Madeira  wine;  and  that  is  what  neither  you 
nor  your  father  do.  Therefore,  saddle  the  horse 
yourself."  For  this  retort  courteous,  Ralph  induced 
Eleazar  Wheelock  to  send  William  back  to  Johnson 
as  "  too  proud  and  litigious."  This  did  not  tend  to 
make  the  powerful  lord  of  Johnson  Hall  any  the 
more  pleased  with  the  Wheelocks,  though  he  had 
for  some  time  given  them  and  their  branch  schools 
great  help  in  his  domain.  He  had  safeguarded  their 
native  teachers  and  had  even  fed  them  from  his 
stores.  But  his  favor  was  rapidly  being  alienated. 

Ralph  Wheelock's  last  trip  to  the  Onondagas 
was  most  disastrous.  Upon  his  arrival,  he  found 
Kirkland  ill  and  just  departing  for  Connecticut, 
whereupon  he  bitterly  attacked  the  missionary 
before  an  Indian  council,  calling  him  "  no  more  than 
a  servant  of  my  father  who  is  at  the  head  of  the 
ministers  of  New  England  and  known  beyond  the 

20 


. 


- 


Rollins  Chapel 


THE   EVOLUTION 

Great  Water."  He  pompously  boasted:  "  When  he 
dies,  I  shall  succeed  him  and  manage  all  the  affairs 
of  instructing  the  Indians." 

The  redskins  were  angered  beyond  measure,  both 
because  they  hated  Ralph  and  liked  Kirkland.  Ac- 
cording to  the  narrative  of  "  Indian  Thomas  ",  this 
was  their  answer,  delivered  by  a  chosen  orator: 

Brother,  we  heartily  thank  you  that  we  now  understand 
the  whole  of  your  messages  as  you  are  come  with  the 
word  of  God.  You  have  spoken  exceedingly  well,  very 
sweet  words  indeed,  as  coming  from  the  tongue  from 
whence  we  perceive  you  have  spoken.  But,  brother,  do 
you  think  we  are  altogether  ignorant  of  your  methods 
of  instruction?  [Then  taking  and  shaking  him  by  the 
shoulder,]  Why,  brother,  you  are  deceiving  yourself! 
We  understand  not  only  your  speech  but  your  manner  of 
teaching  Indian.  Brother,  take  care;  you  are  too  hasty 
and  strong  in  your  manner  of  speaking  before  the  children 
and  boys  have  any  knowledge  of  your  language.  Why, 
brother,  if  another  hears  my  dog  barking,  or  having  hold 
of  a  creature,  and  bids  him  get  out  and  perhaps  he  don't 
obey  him  immediately,  not  understanding  the  voice. 
Upon  which  the  stranger  catches  up  a  club  and  mauls 
my  dog.  I  shall  resent  it,  because  he  is  my  dog.  Brother, 
I  love  my  dog.  What  do  you  think  of  children,  in  like 
case  ? 

Young  Wheelock  was  "  much  affrighted  ",  says 
"  Indian  Thomas  ",  who  asked  the  speakers  to 
cease  their  shouting  and  yells  of  contempt.  Finally, 

21 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

as  quiet  was  restored,  came  this  gravely  significant 
remark  from  one  of  the  tribe: 

Brother,  you  must  learn  of  the  French  ministers  if  you 
would  understand  and  know  how  to  treat  Indians.  They 
don't  speak  roughly,  nor  do  they  for  every  little  mistake 
take  up  a  club  and  flog  them.  It  seems  to  us  that  they 
teach  the  word  of  God.  They  are  very  charitable,  and 
can't  see  those  they  instruct  naked  or  hungry. 

Never  from  an  Indian  'mouth  was  there  a  more 
pungent  estimate  of  the  difference  between  the 
methods  of  the  domineering  English  and  those  of 
the  suave,  tactful  French  in  the  handling  of  the 
essentially  proud  men  of  the  forests. 

This  was  the  last  exploit  of  Ralph  Wheelock  in 
the  role  of  enfant  terrible,  but  it  was  sufficient  to 
estrange  Sir  William  Johnson  still  further.  It  is 
but  just  to  the  boy,  however,  to  remember  that  even 
at  this  time  he  was  subject  to  epileptic  attacks, 
which  later  so  wrecked  his  intellect  that  he  was 
put  under  guardianship  and  even  kept  a  prisoner 
at  times.  Disease  shattered  forever  his  dream  of 
succession. 

But  the  final  blow  to  Eleazar  Wheelock's  hopes  of 
establishing  intimate  Christian  relations  with  the 
Six  Nations  was  dealt  by  the  inept  hand  of  another 
of  his  emissaries.  The  story  is  picturesque. 

In  the  summer  of  1768,  Wheelock,  whose  ears 

22 


THE   EVOLUTION 

were  keenly  attuned  to  the  public  sounds  that 
might  be  of  advantage  to  his  enterprise,  heard  from 
some  Oneidas  who  visited  him  at  Lebanon,  of  a 
great  council  shortly  to  be  held  at  Mount  Johnson 
under  the  auspices  of  Sir  William.  All  the  tribes 
in  this  feudal  lord's  jurisdiction  were  to  take  part; 
presents  and  plenteous  rum  were  laid  in  stock,  for 
the  intent  was,  as  usual,  to  win  something  from  the 
Indians  at  small  cost  —  in  this  case  land.  The 
Connecticut  pedagogue  believed  that  in  the  general 
allotment  he  might  be  lucky  enough  to  obtain  a 
grant  at  a  new  location  for  his  Charity  School  —  he 
was  by  now  despairing  of  any  further  advance  in 
Connecticut.  He  decided  to  send  an  agent  to  the 
congress,  and  finally  picked  Reverend  Jacob  W. 
Johnson,  of  Groton.  Never  was  choice  of  ambas- 
sador more  unfortunate. 

At  Fort  Stanwix  more  than  three  thousand  In- 
dians had  gathered  in  their  most  splendid  panoply. 
Their  hosts,  beside  Sir  William  Johnson,  were 
Governor  Franklin  of  New  Jersey,  and  Governor 
Penn  of  Pennsylvania,  together  with,  according  to 
Chase,  "  a  number  more  of  great  and  wealthy  gentle- 
men from  those  provinces  and  from  Virginia,  with 
a -great  sum  of  gold  and  silver  and  numerous  bat- 
teaux  of  blankets  and  other  goods;  their  purpose 
being  to  obtain  from  the  Indians  the  cession  of  a 

23 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

large  tract  of  their  lands  under  cover  of  a  settle- 
ment of  boundaries  "  —  in  other  words  to  swindle 
them. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  this  extraordinary  camp, 
Reverend  Mr.  Johnson  immediately  proceeded  to 
attack  the  land  cession  scheme  of  the  governors  and 
plutocrats.  He  voted  himself  counsel  for  the  In- 
dians and  did  his  utmost  to  stir  up  among  them 
opposition  to  the  plan.  He  "  even  had  the  face  ", 
wrote  Sir  William  to  General  Gage,  "  in  opposition 
to  his  majesty's  demands  and  the  desire  of  the 
colonies  to  memorial  me,  praying  that  the  Indians 
might  not  be  allowed  to  give  up  far  to  the  North 
or  to  the  West  but  to  reserve  it  for  the  purposes  of 
Religion." 

The  Groton  parson  was  very  likely  more  scrupu- 
lous in  his  attitude  toward  the  Indians  than  were 
the  powerful  negotiators  for  their  lands,  and  he 
may  have  been  morally  correct  in  opposing  the 
scheme  of  cession.  But  diplomatically  he  was 
impossible.  At  once  he  aroused  the  hot  enmity  of 
Sir  William,  and  he  managed  to  make  a  bad  matter 
worse  by  revealing  the  fact  that  Wheelock  was  him- 
self after  a  land  grant.  That  was  an  irretrievable 
blunder.  When  the  dire  tidings  of  its  making 
reached  Wheelock  by  special  messenger,  he  at  once 
despatched  another  friend,  Reverend  Ebenezer 

24 


THE   EVOLUTION 

Cleaveland,  to  see  if  the  damage  could  not  be  un- 
done. This  gentleman  found  himself  powerless,  but 
he  saw  the  end  of  the  council.  It  came  on  a  Satur- 
day, and  that  night  Sir  William  and  his  family  pru- 
dently departed  and  advised  all  the  other  pale- 
faces to  do  likewise.  He  knew  what  was  about  to 
happen. 

The  good  Mr.  Cleaveland  remained  overnight, 
believing  that  Sunday  would  at  least  be  fairly 
tranquil.  But  he  counted  without  the  firewater. 
:<  Within  two  hours  after  the  rum  had  been  given 
out ",  he  reported,  "  the  whole  street  and  parade 
was  filled  with  drunkenness,  and  nothing  could  be 
heard  or  seen  but  yelling  and  fighting,  as  though 
hell  itself  had  broke  loose."  Four  had  been  slain 
in  the  orgies  before  Cleaveland  fled  the  spot  at  ten 
the  next  morning.  The  result  of  this  deliberate 
debauchery  of  the  Indians  was  a  new  strip  of  land, 
eight  hundred  miles  long  and  one  hundred  wide, 
for  the  English. 

But  this  fiasco  helped  to  hasten  the  locating  and 
the  founding  of  Dartmouth  College.  Schoolmaster 
Eleazar  now  knew  that  his  eye  was  cast  upon  the 
Mohawk  country  vainly.  Even  the  region  of  the 
Susquehanna,  long  favored  by  him,  was  not  ob- 
tainable under  conditions  that  suited.  Where  to 
go,  then?  for  going  he  had  determined  upon,  as 

25 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

well  as  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  educating  of 
white  pupils.  He  must  have  English  blood  in 
better  proportion  for  his  work. 

Offers  of  locations  for  the  Charity  School  had 
been  and  still  were  plentiful.  Dozens  of  towns  and 
small  settlements  from  the  Kennebec  to  the  "  Father 
of  Waters  "  applied  for  the  honor  of  becoming  the 
seat  of  the  future  Dartmouth  College.  Reverend 
Charles  J.  Smith  had  devised  a  scheme  for  its  settle- 
ment in  Virginia  or  Carolina.  People  in  the  vicinity 
of  Albany  offered  a  location  only  to  have  it  declined 
on  the  ground  that  "  the  religious  character  of 
Albany  is  such  that  it  would  by  no  means  do  to 
take  the  school  into  it  ",  whereat  the  good  burghers 
of  that  town  were  somewhat  disconcerted,  and 
"  took  your  reflections  upon  their  city  a  little  in 
dudgeon."  Captain  A.  J.  Lansing  offered  money 
and  land  at  Lansingburg  in  New  York.  Some 
Philadelphia  Presbyterians  proposed  a  gift  of  terri- 
tory not  far  from  Pittsburgh;  Stockbridge,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, became  a  candidate  for  the  location;  so 
did  Pittsfield,  upon  which  it  was  reported  to  Whee- 
lock:  "  the  commissioners  in  Boston  oppose  the 
school,  and  will  do  so  if  it  be  placed  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, if  they  think  it  vies  with  Cambridge.  But  the 
greatest  part  of  the  people  want  another  College 
as  a  check  upon  the  extravagant  demands  made 

26 


THE   EVOLUTION 

there."  The  suggestion  was  made  by  New  York 
patrons  of  the  school  that  it  be  made  "  an  annexa- 
tion to  the  College  of  New  Jersey."  This  met 
short  shrift  with  Wheelock,  who  had  no  notion  of 
letting  anybody  but  the  Almighty  have  any  division 
of  authority  with  himself. 

In  all  this  period  of  sifting,  selecting,  and  then 
rejecting,  New  Hampshire  had  ever  stood  as  a  sort 
of  promised  land  if  others  failed.  As  far  back  as 
1765,  Governor  Benning  Wentworth  of  that  prov- 
ince had  promised  five  hundred  acres  of  land  "  to 
encourage  the  school."  His  son,  the  brilliant,  deb- 
onair, luxury-loving,  yet  sensible  and  honorable 
Governor  John  Wentworth,  was  as  well  inclined, 
and  in  March,  1768,  wrote  Wheelock:  "  I  shall  be 
ready  to  grant  a  township  on  Connecticut  River 
of  six  miles  square  for  an  endowment  of  the 
school." 

This  real  promise  of  substantial  help;  the  fact 
that  many  of  Wheelock's  Connecticut  friends  and 
neighbors  had  gone  north  and  settled  along  the 
river;  the  belief  that  the  Canadian  Indians  could 
be  induced  to  attend  a  school  located  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  above  all  the  strong  probability  of  being 
able  to  obtain  a  charter  decided  Wheelock  to  pull 
up  the  Indian  Charity  School  by  the  roots  and 
transplant  it  to  the  new  lands  far  up  the  east  bank 

27 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

of  the  Connecticut  River.  The  English  trustees 
were  agreeable  to  the  change;  Wheelock  set  about 
the  framing  of  a  charter  which  he  sent  to  Governor 
Wentworth  August  22,  1769.  In  it  he  termed  the 
new  institution  an  academy,  but  added  as  a  post- 
script this  historic  suggestion: 

"  Sir  —  if  proper  to  use  the  word  '  College  '  in- 
stead of  '  Academy  '  in  the  charter  I  shall  be  well 
pleased  with  it." 

That  postscript  was  the  real  founding  of  Dart- 
mouth College. 

The  completed  charter  was  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  its  first  president  in  March,  1770.  It  used 
the  name  "  College  "  as  he  had  wished  and  named 
the  institution  for  Lord  Dartmouth,  after  Governor 
Wentworth  had  modestly  put  the  honor  by.  But 
the  English  trustees,  including  Dartmouth  himself, 
were  wrathful  over  the  rather  subtle  evolution  of 
the  Indian  Charity  School  into  Dartmouth  College. 
Even  the  good-natured  Thornton  wrote:  "  I  am 
afraid  there  is  too  much  worldly  wisdom  in  this 
charter,  and  that  it  is  trusting  man  instead  of  resting 
on  the  living  God."  It  is  probable  that  the  unex- 
pectedness of  the  move  shocked  the  Englishmen 
more  than  any  imagined  evil  in  it;  truth  to  tell, 
Wheelock  had  kept  his  trustees  entirely  in  the  dark 
as  to  the  charter  until  it  was  obtained.  Their  charge 


THE   EVOLUTION 

of  disingenuousness  against  him  was  deserved. 
Still  they  doled  out  money  to  him  as  an  individ- 
ual —  they  never  officially  recognized  him  as  Presi- 
dent of  Dartmouth  College  —  until  the  fund  was 
exhausted. 

That  the  idea  of  Indian  education  was  still  strong 
with  Wheelock  and  his  friends  is  made  clear  by  the 
phrasing  of  the  charter.  Said  Governor  Wentworth 
in  the  name  of  George  III: 

We  do  of  our  special  grace,  certain  knowledge  and 
mere  motion,  ordain,  grant  &  constitute  that  there  be 
a  college  erected  in  our  said  province  of  New  Hampshire 
by  the  name  of  Dartmouth  College  for  the  education  & 
instruction  of  Youth  of  the  Indian  Tribes  in  this  Land  in 
reading,  writing  &  all  parts  of  Learning  which  shall  ap- 
pear necessary  and  expedient  for  civilizing  &  christianizing 
Children  of  Pagans  as  well  as  in  all  liberal  Arts  and 
Sciences;  and  also  of  English  Youth  and  any  others,  .  .  . 
and  not  excluding  any  Person  of  any  religious  denomina- 
tion whatsoever  from  free  &  equal  liberty  &  advantage  of 
Education  or  from  any  of  the  liberties  and  privileges  or 
immunities  of  the  said  College  on  account  of  his  or  their 
speculative  sentiments  in  Religion,  &  of  his  or  their  being 
of  a  religious  profession  different  from  the  said  Trustees 
of  the  said  Dartmouth  College. 

Even  with  the  charter  safely  signed,  sealed,  and 
delivered,  Eleazar  Wheelock's  troubles  were  not 
ended.  Immediately  there  arose  such  a  clamor 

29 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

from  New  Hampshire  towns  eager  to  possess  the 
college  that  one  would  have  thought  the  chief  end 
and  aim  of  each  of  them  was  to  be  the  seat  of  an 
institution  of  learning. 

Wheelock  made  an  eight  weeks'  tour  of  the  north 
country  in  the  spring  of  1770,  and  when  the  wran- 
gling and  backbiting  were  over,  chose  Hanover  as 
the  home  for  his  college;  the  site  was  the  finest  and 
most  advantageous  in  his  eyes,  and  the  town  was 
"  settled  with  the  most  serious,  steady  inhabitants." 
They  have  left  many  descendants. 

Thereupon  arose  an  almost  incredible  bedlam  of 
protest  from  some  of  the  disappointed  places. 
Wheelock  was  jeered  at  as  a  visionary,  called  a 
double-dealer,  and  even  accused  of  some  sort  of 
underhand  scheme  to  feather  the  nest  of  himself 
and  his  family  by  the  settling  in  Hanover.  Even 
his  friend  Colonel  Jonathan  Moulton  wrote  to  him 
from  Orford: 

I  have  been  in  Portsmouth,  and  there  to  hear  all 
mouths  opened  against  you,  and  laughing  at  me  and  all 
my  neighborhood,  flinging,  "  Ah!  I  always  told  you  Dr. 
Wheelock  was  making  a  purse  to  himself;  and  now  this 
of  fixing  the  College  proves  it."  Your  usefulness  at 
present  in  the  dear  Redeemer's  kingdom  seems  over.  Oh, 
sir!  consider,  this  affair  seems  to  overthrow  in  the  minds 
of  sinners  all  you  have  been  building  up  so  many  years, 
and  it  is  currently  talked  that  those  that  have  largely 

30 


THE  EVOLUTION 

subscribed  will  not  pay  one  farthing,  except  forced,  if 
the  College  stands  in  Hanover;  and  others  say  it  can't 
prosper,  for  it's  all  a  jockey  trick  from  first  to  last. 

Wheelock  stood  up  to  the  blast  unmoved,  like  the 
strong  man  that  he  was.  "  The  site  for  Dartmouth 
College  ",  he  replied,  "  was  not  determined  by  any 
private  interest  or  party  on  earth,  but  the  Re- 
deemer's." 

The  first  president  of  Dartmouth  was,  it  is  evi- 
dent, firmly  of  the  opinion  that  the  Almighty  and 
himself  were  on  terms  that  admitted  of  no  disruption 
by  any  terrestrial  powers. 


31 


CHAPTER  III 

"  VOX    CLAMANTIS    IN    DESERTO  " 

THERE  are  those  who  from  time  to  time  and 
for  reasons  peculiar  to  themselves  venture  to 
question  the  entire  appropriateness  of  many  of  the 
mottoes  that  adorn  college  seals.  ''  Truth  "  and 
"  Light "  and  "  Onward  "  and  "  Upward  "  and  the 
whole  tribe  of  self-congratulatory  parts  of  speech 
have  had  their  doubters  here  and  there.  But  of 
Dartmouth  it  may  confidently  be  asserted  that  the 
"  Vox  Clamantis  in  Deserto  "  was  absolutely  and 
indisputably  fitting  when  it  was  engraved  upon  her 
Great  Seal. 

The  wilderness  where  her  voice  was  raised  was  per- 
vasive, insistent,  omnipresent.  Some  ultra-urban 
young  gentlemen,  it  is  occasionally  whispered, 
profess  to  find  like  conditions  to  this  very  day  when 
they  first  arrive  in  Hanover,  but  they  generally 
develop  into  the  most  ardent  champions  of  the 
great  out-of-doors  the  college  can  boast. 

However,  there  was  no  quibbling  as  to  nature's 
primitive  garb  when  in  early  August,  1770,  Eleazar 
Wheelock,  with  his  ox-teams  and  his  laborers  and 

32 


-o 
O 


"VOX  CLAMANTIS  IN  DESERTO  " 

two  companions,  Sylvanus  Ripley  and  John  Crane, 
pushed  his  straggling  and  struggling  way  up  from 
Connecticut  and  at  last  reached  the  grant  which 
was  to  be  the  home  of  the  Indian  Charity  School 
and  Dartmouth  College.  To  the  westward  flowed 
the  Connecticut,  that  beautiful  boulevard  for  Indian 
travel  from  north  to  south,  and  upon  the  sparkling 
waters  of  which  the  redskin's  canoe  was  still  occa- 
sionally to  be  seen,  but  which  was  as  yet  uncurbed 
by  dams  and  uncrossed  by  bridges.  To  the  east 
were  rugged,  densely  wooded  hills,  presently  to  rise 
into  bare  and  towering  mountains. 

On  the  level  plateau  selected  as  the  location  for 
the  college,  giant  pines  nearing  three  hundred  feet 
HI  height  shut  out  the  very  sun,  save  at  noon,  and 
calmed  the  fiercest  blasts  of  the  upper  air  into  a 
cathedral  quietude.  To  the  north  it  was  two  miles 
to  the  nearest  human  habitation  "  through  one 
continued  and  dreary  wood."  The  bear,  the  wolf, 
the  lynx,  and  the  panther  roamed  the  forest  and 
doubtless  scented  the  approach  of  President  Whee- 
lock's  domestic  animals  with  an  instinct  toward 
making  trouble  for  them,  which  they  afterwards 
did.  The  good  doctor  had  desired  a  place  for  his 
college  "  remote  from  the  allurements  of  more 
populous  towns."  He  had  surely  found  it. 

A  few  axemen  had  preceded  the  Wheelock  party 

33 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

and  had  carved  a  small  resting-place  from  the  pro- 
digious pines.  Soon  after  the  president's  arrival, 
a  log  house,  eighteen  feet  square,  with  windows  of 
mica  and  oiled  paper,  was  erected  for  his  use.  This 
was  "  the  first  sprout  of  the  college  ",  and  around 
it  later  were  built  huts  for  the  student  dormitories. 
That  .that  first  dwelling  was  highly  honored  by 
Wheelock  was  made  evident  by  the  inclusion  of  it 
in  his  will  as  a  bequest  to  his  son  and  successor.  It 
long  since  vanished  into  the  limbo  of  regretted 
things,  torn  down  in  1783  to  feed  the  flames  of  some 
unappreciative  student  revel. 

Mahomet  had  gone  to  the  mountain,  and  now 
Mahomet's  students  must  come  to  Mahomet. 
Wheelock,  whose  comparison  with  the  prophet  is 
not  altogether  forced,  found  his  "  primitive  Alca- 
zar "  in  a  few  weeks  ready  for  the  translation  of  his 
pupils  of  the  Indian  Charity  School  from  Lebanon 
to  the  wilds  of  Hanover.  Madame  Wheelock  and 
the  family  were  also  to  come,  together  with  four 
slaves,  Exeter,  Brister,  Chloe,  and  Peggy.  The 
independent^  ways  of  these  bondsmen  at  that  time 
appear  from  the  report  of  Wheelock's  nephew  and 
chief  teamster,  Jabez  Bingham,  who  wrote  from 
Connecticut  that  "  Exeter  is  very  high  in  the  instep, 
and  says  he  won't  go  without  Peggy  goes  and  all 
his  things." 

34 


'VOX   CLAMANTIS   IN   DESERTO " 

Wheelock  had  arranged  with  his  wife  that  she 
was  to  start  in  mid-September;  on  the  tenth  he 
wrote  her  some  final  instructions,  quaint,  religious 
and  practical  at  once.  "  I  hope  I  am  in  God's  way  ", 
he  said,  and  then:  "  It  will  not  be  best  for  Brister 
to  bring  his  cow  unless  she  gives  milk;  it  will  cost 
403.  at  least  to  winter  her  here.  Let  some  factor 
buy  100  Ib.  or  more  of  tobacco  and  bring  ...  If 
you  have  a  barrel  of  Old  Pork,  bring  it  with  you.  .  .  . 
You  would  do  well  to  bring  a  gross  of  pipes."  Bing- 
ham  reported  to  his  uncle  before  the  start  from 
Lebanon  that  "  Sir  Cluet  has  got  a  barrel  of  rum 
and  a  barrel  of  molasses,  a  cag  of  wine  and  half  a 
barrel  of  Shuggar ",  and  that  the  articles  would 
be  brought  up. 

The  president  found  soon  after  his  letter  of  the 
tenth  that  failure  to  discover  water  near  his  newly 
built  house  necessitated  its  removal,  with  the  conse- 
quent delaying  of  even  a  shelter  over  the  heads  of 
Madame  Wheelock  and  the  students.  He  made 
strenuous  efforts  to  prevent  the  departure  from 
Lebanon,  sending  Doctor  Crane  as  a  special  mes- 
senger, with  license,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  to 
travel  on  Sunday.  This  was  Crane's  credential: 

This  may  certify  that  the  urgency  and  importance  of 
the  journey  of  Dr.  Crane  the  Bearer  is  such  as  that  I 
suppose  will  be  tho  suff  to  justify  his  riding  upon  the 

35 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

Sabbath  in  order  to  accomplish  the  Design  on  which  he  is 
sent,  which  is  to  prevent  my  family  &  the  members  of 
Dartmouth  College  setting  out  from  Lebanon  on  Tuesday 
next  according  to  appointment,  which  by  reason  of  some 
unforeseen  providences  will  be  earlier  than  provision  can 
be  made  for  their  reception,  —  the  occasion  &  circum- 
stances of  which  the  Doctor  is  able  to  relate,  and  therefore 
his  encouragement  and  countenance  in  his  journey  is 
humbly  requested  of  all  concerned  by  their  humble 
servt. 

Wheelock  was  not  above  compromising  with  the 
powers  of  darkness  when  it  seemed  best  to  him. 

Doctor  Crane  rode  gallantly  and  well  down  the 
rough  valley,  and  he  met  the  northern  bound  pro- 
cession indeed,  but  too  late  to  turn  it  back.  Madame 
Wheelock,  from  the  rocking  depths  of  her  great 
English  coach,  a  gift  from  John  Thornton,  declared 
that  having  begun  the  journey,  dux  femina  facti, 
she  would  carry  it  through.  Doctor  Crane  could  do 
nothing  but  turn  himself  about  and  join  the  strange 
procession. 

Strange  it  surely  was.  A  horseman  or  two  at  the 
head;  Madame  Wheelock's  splendid  coach,  long 
the  marvel  of  the  countryside,  drawn  by  disgruntled 
and  panting  steeds;  the  ox- teams,  bearing  the 
justly  celebrated  barrel  of  rum  and  the  other  lesser 
appurtenances  of  life;  the  negro  servitors  and  the 
cow,  and  the  thirty  students,  of  whom  but  two 


'VOX   CLAMANTIS  IN   DESERTO " 

were  Indians,  tramping  along  on  foot — never  was 
there  a  more  remarkable  pilgrimage  for  the  intel- 
lectual than  these  elements  presented.  Pushing 
forward  a  few  miles  a  day;  at  the  last  part  of  the 
journey  toiling  up  the  fearfully  rough  "  Great 
Road  "  skirting  the  Connecticut  River;  staggering, 
lurching,  jouncing  over  the  scarcely  opened  way, 
the  cavalcade  reached  the  college  clearing  only  to 
find  everything  in  dire  confusion. 

Wheelock,  who  saw  the  hand  of  the  Lord  in  most 
exigencies,  was  undismayed.  He  housed  his  stuff 
with  his  wife  "  and  the  females  of  my  family  "  in 
the  original  log  hut,  and  compelled  his  sons  and 
students  to  make  booths  and  beds  of  hemlock 
boughs  —  the  woodcraft  of  the  two  Indians  doubt- 
less being  of  much  assistance  in  this  work  of  estab- 
lishing Dartmouth's  first  dormitories. 

Tutor  Woodward,  arriving  from  Boston  at  this 
juncture,  with  a  few  more  students,  vividly  de- 
scribes the  state  of  things  at  the  clearing.  "  It  was 
near  the  close  of  the  day,"  he  says:  "  there  was 
scanty  room  in  the  Doctor's  shanty  for  the  shelter 
of  those  who  were  on  the  ground,  and  none  for  us 
who  had  just  arrived.  All  constructed  for  a  tem- 
porary residence  a  tent  of  crotched  stakes  and  poles 
covered  with  boughs.  It  was  soon  ready,  and  we 
camped  down  wrapped  in  our  blankets,  and  for  a 

37 


time  slept  very  comfortably.  During  the  night, 
however,  a  storm  arose  of  high  wind  and  pelting 
rain.  Our  tent  came  down  and  buried  us  in  its  ruins. 
After  mutual  inquiry,  we  found  no  one  injured,  and 
as  the  storm  raged  without  abated  fury,  we  resolved 
to  abide  the  issue  as  we  were,  and  wait  for  the  day. 
When  fair  weather  returned,  we  made  more  sub- 
stantial booths  for  our  protection  till  better  accom- 
modations could  be  provided." 

These  conditions  were  soon  improved.  A  house 
of  timber  and  boards,  brought  from  sawmills  some 
miles  away,  was  built  for  the  president.  It  was 
forty  by  thirty-two  feet  and  one  story  high,  with  a 
little  attic  for  the  doctor's  office,  while  the  servants 
were  given  a  better  dwelling  eighty  by  thirty-two 
and  two  stories  high.  Wheelock  assumed  no  airs 
of  greatness.  Huts  for  the  students  were  hastily 
constructed,  and,  with  his  brood  around  him, 
Eleazar  Wheelock  set  his  institution  in  order  for 
the  facing  of  its  first  winter. 

Snow  came  heavily  down  upon  the  "  groves  of 
the  academy  ",  as  a  later  president  was  fond  of 
saying,  before  the  roof  of  the  new  college  building 
was  laid  on.  There  was  no  chapel.  "  Sometimes," 
wrote  David  McClure,  one  of  the  faculty,  "  Dr. 
Wheelock  presented  to  God  their  morning  and 
evening  prayers  standing  at  the  head  of  his  numer- 

38 


'VOX   CLAMAXTIS  IN   DESERTO " 

ous  family  in  the  open  air;  and  the  surrounding 
forest  for  the  first  time  reverberated  the  solemn 
sounds  of  supplication  and  praise."  Surely  a  scene 
for  the  historical  painter  who  will  some  day  arise 
with  the  love  of  the  ancient  Dartmouth  in  his  heart 
and  the  genius  for  a  noble  picture  in  his  brush.  For 
his  title  he  will  need  but  borrow  from  the  Great 
Seal:  "  Vox  Clamantis  in  Deserto." 


39 


CHAPTER  IV 

GETTING    UNDER   WAY 

EARLY  in  1770  the  main  building,  the  "  col- 
lege ",  was  completed.  Its  unreadiness  in  the 
autumn  before,  together  with  an  actual  scarcity  of 
food,  had  been  the  cause  of  the  return  of  a  number 
of  the  pupils  to  Connecticut  for  the  winter.  Eat- 
ables were  costly  for  those  days,  owing  to  the  im- 
mense labor  of  hauling  and  the  difficulty  in  raising 
crops.  Beef  was  at  twenty  shillings  a  hundred  and 
pork  at  thirty-three.  Wheat  cost  six  shillings  a 
bushel;  rye,  three  shillings,  sixpence,  and  Indian 
corn  two  shillings,  sixpence;  molasses  brought  five 
shillings  a  gallon. 

As  the  tuition  and  board  of  a  student  was  but 
twenty  pounds  a  year,  Dartmouth's  profits  were 
slim  enough,  if  the  students  were  to  get  anything  to 
eat.  The  greater  part  of  their  provender  had  to  be 
transported  more  than  a  hundred  miles  through 
new  and  bad  roads.  Some  of  it  came  up  the  Con- 
necticut in  bateaux,  in  which  case  it  was  necessary 
to  carry  the  stuff  around  a  dozen  falls  or  rapids.  If 

40 


GETTING   UNDER  WAY 

there  was  a  lack  of  luxuries,  the  savagery  of  nature 
was  mostly  at  fault. 

But  the  new  building  was  something  of  a  triumph 
under  the  circumstances.  It  was  two  stories  in 
height  and  twice  as  long  as  any  of  the  other  struc- 
tures. Sixteen  rooms,  besides  kitchen,  hall,  and 
storeroom,  furnished  the  students  with  commons 
and  dormitories.  There  was  a  smaller  "  school 
house  ",  presumably  for  recitations.  Soon  a  barn, 
a  wash-house,  and  a  bakehouse  were  added  to  the 
outfit.  The  president's  new  frame  dwelling  was 
found,  "  through  God's  favor  ",  to  be  fairly  com- 
fortable. By  the  summer  of  1771  a  good  deal  of 
land  had  been  cleared,  and  the  college  seat  took  on 
the  airs  and  appearance  of  a  village. 

Dartmouth's  first  commencement  was  a  great! 
event  for  the  wilderness.  Riding  up  from  Ports-/ 
mouth  on  horseback  came  Governor  WentwortH 
with  a  company  of  sixty  gentlemen  from  Ports- 
mouth, making  camp  two  nights  on  the  way.  With 
them  came  the  glorious  silver  punch-bowl  that  is 
still  one  of  the  cherished  possessions  of  the  college, 
though  the  years  of  disuse  have  long  since  obliter- 
ated the  faintest  odor  of  the  New  England  rum  that 
was  wont  to  waft  good  cheer  from  its  capacious 
interior.  Four  students  took  their  degrees  as 
bachelors  of  arts:  Lev!  Frisbie,  Sylvanus  Ripley, 

41 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

Samuel  Gray,  and  John  Wheelock,  all  of  whom  had 
emigrated  from  their  Yale  classes  to  graduate  at 
Dartmouth.  The  exercises,  which  took  place  on 
August  28,  were  as  follows: 

1.  A  Salutatory  Oration  in  English,  by  Ripley,  upon 
the  Virtues,  succeeded  by  an  Anthem. 

2.  A  Clyosophic  Oration  in  Latin,  by  Frisbie. 

3.  A  Syllogistic  Disputation,  wherein  Gray  held  the 
question,    An    vera    cognitio    Dei    Luce    Naturae    acquiri 
potest  ?    Opposed  by  Frisbie,  Wheelock,  and  Ripley;  and 

4.  A    Valedictory    Oration    in    Latin,    by    Wheelock, 
"  followed  by  an  anthem  composed  and  set  to  music   by 
the  young  gentlemen,  candidates  for  a  degree." 

This  appeal  to  the  Muses  must  have  been  a 
moving  performance.  Wheelock  says  that  Ripley's 
oration  "  produced  tears  from  a  great  number  of 
the  learned  ",  and  this,  too,  before  the  punch  was 
ladled  from  the  silver  bowl.  Frisbie  recited  an  origi- 
nal poem,  with  these  concluding  lines: 

"  Thus  Dartmouth,  happy  in  her  sylvan  seat, 
Drinks  the  pure  pleasures  of  her  fair  retreat, 
Her  songs  of  praise  in  notes  melodious  rise 
Like  clouds  of  incense  to  the  skies. 
Her  God  protects  her  with  paternal  care 
From  ills  destructive  and  each  fatal  snare; 
And  may  He  still  protect,  and  she  adore, 
Till  heaven,  and  earth,  and  time  shall  be  no  more." 

42 


GETTING   UNDER  WAY 

Semi-official  history  says  that  the  various  orations, 
disputations,  and  the  poem  were  delivered  al  fresco, 
a  crude  stage  of  logs  and  hewn  boards,  to  which 
access  was  given  by  a  broad,  inclined  hemlock 
plank,  furnishing  the  rostrum  for  the  four  who  were 
forever  to  hold  their  conspicuous  place  in  Dart- 
mouth annals.  There  is  a  tradition,  characteristic 
enough  to  be  true,  that  an  Indian  under-classman 
had  some  share  in  the  public  exercises,  and  that  he 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  platform 
but  spoke  his  piece  in  aboriginal  tongue,  from  the 
huge  branch  of  an  adjacent  pine.  However  that 
may  be,  there  is  no  gloomy  cloud  of  scepticism  over 
the  statement  that  Governor  Wentworth  paid  for 
the  ox  that  was  barbecued  on  the  green,  nor  that  a 
barrel  of  rum  was  broached,  to  the  great  satisfaction 
of  the  settlers  for  miles  around. 

But  to  the  president,  this  first  Commencement 
was  not  an  unalloyed  joy.  Madame  Wheelock  was 
too  ill  to  receive  any  guests,  and  the  presidential 
cook,  with  the  almost  inevitable  instinct  of  that 
profession,  seized  upon  the  occasion  to  get  drunk. 
But  Eleazar  Wheelock  was  ever  of  undaunted  soul, 
and  he  invited  the  dashing  governor  and  his  merry 
suite  to  dinner,  some  of  which  he  perhaps  prepared 
with  his  own  hands.  Under  the  circumstances  it 
could  hardly  have  been  a  luxurious  feast,  yet  some 

43 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

of  the  Portsmouth  visitors  were  of  mean  and  little 
souls  enough  to  sneer  at  the  bareness  of  their 
entertainment  after  they  had  returned  home. 

Wheelock's  answer,  resembling  somewhat  John- 
son's famous  letter  to  Chesterfield  in  its  simplicity, 
its  dignity,  and  its  touch  of  pathos,  must  have  made 
those  snobbish  critics  ashamed  of  themselves.  "  We 
were  indeed",  he  said,  "in  very  trying  circumstances; 
but  we  got  ajbng  as  well  as  we  could,  depending  on 
the  candor  and  clemency  of  our  friends.  As  to  the 
table-linen,  which  I  hear  is  complained  of,  that 
must  come,  I  suspect,  wholly  upon  me,  through  my 
poverty.  My  expenses  having  been  so  long  inade- 
quate to  my  means,  I  had  provided  no  better, 
though  I  did  not  know  till  then  that  their  want  was 
so  great  as  not  to  be  able  to  appear  decent  in  home- 
made, till  the  Commencement  was  over.  As  to 
the  College,  it  owns  but  one  [tablecloth],  that  was 
lately  given  by  a  generous  lady  in  Connecticut,  and 
of  her  own  manufacture.  But  we  are  getting  along, 
and  things  are  growing  better." 

We  may  feel  sure  that  Governor  Wentworth  had 
no  part  in  the  petty  fault-finding.  He  honored  and 
assisted  Wheelock  in  every  way  possible  until  the 
approaching  storm  of  the  Revolution  swept  him 
out  of  the  country.  He  attended  two  more  Com- 
mencements, and  he  put  through  the  building  of  a 

44 


GETTING   UNDER  WAY 

new  road  from  his  summer  seat  at  Wolfeboro  to 
Hanover  —  a  terrible  affair  across  the  shoulder  of 
Moose  Mountain  and  long  since  given  over  to  the 
newer  forest,  the  plough,  and  the  stone-heap.  If 
Yale  gave  much  to  Dartmouth  in  the  person  of 
Wheelock  and  the  first  graduating  class,  Harvard's 
gift  of  the  brilliant,  well  educated  cavalier  who  was 
the  college's  best  friend  in  the  days  of  its  dawning, 
was  hardly  less  valuable. 

The  first  college  year  ended  so  auspiciously  that 
the  president  felt  justified  in  sending  forth  a  pro- 
spectus in  which  he  declared  that:  "The  Rev.  Dr. 
Wheelock,  through  the  surprising  smiles  of  Heaven 
upon  his  unwearied  endeavors,  has  now  so  nearly 
effected  his  great  and  arduous  undertaking  to 
settle  and  accommodate  his  Indian  school  and 
college  in  a  howling  wilderness  that  he  has  the 
fairest  prospect  in  a  little  time  to  be  able  to  support 
an  hundred  Indian  and  English  youths  upon  charity, 
and  all  with  a  view  to  the  first  and  grand  object  of 
the  Institution,  viz.,  the  spreading  the  blessed 
gospel  of  the  Redeemer  among  the  savages." 

Poverty's  white  horse  rode  o'  nights  in  the  Han- 
over forests,  however,  and  must  have  caused  the 
resolute  Wheelock  many  waking  hours.  The  Indian 
Charity  School  fund  in  England  was  becoming  ex- 
hausted, with  no  hope  of  renewal.  The  Scotch 

45 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

board  in  Edinburgh  was  so  angry  at  the  develop- 
ment that  it  expressed  "  apprehensions  that  Dart- 
mouth College  will  contribute  little  to  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen,  and  after  the  Doctor's  death  fall 
into  Episcopal  management "  —  this  a  rap  at 
Governor  Wentworth,  the  Church  of  England  man, 
and  some  of  the  trustees.  Only  a  few  driblets  of 
money  were  forthcoming  from  that  strait-laced  and 
suspicious  quarter. 

"  My  necessities  really  call  for  help,"  wrote 
Wheelock  to  John  Thornton,  May,  1773.  Of  course 
there  was  the  Provincial  Assembly  to  look  to  for 
aid,  as  in  the  cases  of  so  many  other  ante-Revo- 
lution colleges.  But  the  New  Hampshire  Assembly 
was  not  easily  aroused  to  enthusiasm  for  Dart- 
mouth. The  quarrel  over  the  location  still  rankled, 
and  even  Governor  Wentworth's  repeated  recom- 
mendations were  coldly  received.  In  March,  1771, 
the  Assembly  had  voted  the  munificent  sum  of 
sixty  pounds  for  Wheelock  "  in  consideration  of  his 
great  services  for  the  interest  of  said  College." 
Good  John  PhillipSj  of  Exeter,  did  much  better  than 
that  with  gifts  of  £175  and  £125.  In  June,  1771, 
the  Assembly  was  stormed  by  a  couple  of  student 
lobbyists,  John  Wheelock  and  Sylvanus  Ripley,  but 
in  vain.  The  trustees'  prayer  that  a  salary  be 
granted  President  Wheelock  from  the  Provincial 

46 


GETTING  UNDER  WAY 

treasury  was  expeditiously  tabled.  Even  the  presi- 
dent's own  appeal  for  the  right  to  set  up  a  lottery 
to  raise  five  thousand  pounds  for  the  erection  of  the 
proposed  "  large  house  "  was  denied,  though  proba- 
bly not  from  any  squeamishness  at  the  notion  of  a 
learned  doctor  of  divinity  promoting  a  gambling 
affair. 

But  willing  to  do  something  if  it  cost  no  money, 
the  Assembly  fished  for  Lord  Dartmouth's  aid  when 
he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colo- 
nies, imploring  "  your  Lordship's  patronage  for  the 
good  people  we  represent,  and  especially  for  our 
established  seminary  of  literature,  to  which  we  hope, 
if  your  Lordship  be  a  nursing  father,  it  will  be  a  dif- 
fusive blessing  and  thereby  merit  in  some  measure 
the  exalted  name  of  Dartmouth  College."  In  May, 
1773,  the  Assembly  did  pass  a  grant  of  five  hundred 
pounds  to  help  erect  the  new  college  building.  Thus 
the  sum  of  £560  was  the  limit  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly's  aid  to  Dartmouth.  Subsequently  Whee- 
lock  trained  his  guns  on  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  through  the  powerful  favor  of  Patrick  Henry, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs, 
obtained  a  grant  of  five  hundred  dollars. 

A  subscription  was  ordered  by  the  trustees  in  the 
spring  of  1775,  and  it  gave  every  appearance  of 
being  a  great  success,  as  between  four  and  five 

47 


thousand  pounds  were  promised.  But  not  a  dollar 
was  ever  collected;  the  onset  of  the  war  gave  the 
subscribers  other  things  to  think  of  in  connection 
with  their  money  than  the  necessities  of  a  struggling 
college  and  Indian  school  far  in  the  north  wilderness. 
So  the  College  Hall  remained  for  many  years  the 
remodeled  and  enlarged  first  Wheelock  house  (after 
the  log  hut),  to  which  thirty  feet  and  a  belfry  had 
been  added.  This  structure  was  innocent  of  paint, 
inside  and  out,  and  the  platform  of  the  "  great 
room  ",  used  as  chapel,  meeting-house  and  public 
hall,  was  built  of  axe-hewn  planks.  The  building 
stood  near  the  old  well,  from  which  the  college  pump 
supplied  long  generations  of  students  with  water 
even  up  to  modern  times.  The  first  College  Hall 
was  in  the  southeast  corner  of  what  is  now  the 
campus  and  close  to  the  site  of  the  present  Reed 
Hall. 

By  Commencement,  1774,  the  college  was  well 
under  way.  Its  general  appearance  was  accurately 
described  by  Doctor  Jeremy  Belknap,  that  famous 
theological  tilter,  who  rode  up  from  Dover  on 
horseback  to  witness  the  exercises.  In  his  diary  he 
wrote : 

"  After  dinner  walked  down  to  the  Connecticut 
River  opposite  to  the  College,  where  is  a  ferry.  Ob- 
served on  a  tree,  where  the  bark  was  cut  off,  the 

48 


GETTING   UNDER  WAY 

figure  of  an  Indian  painted,  which  was  done  by  one 
of  the  Indian  scholars.  At  evening  prayers,  by  the 
President's  desire,  I  preached  a  sermon  in  the 
College  hall.  Supped  and  lodged  at  the  President's. 
In  the  evening  the  front  of  the  College  was  illumi- 
nated. 

"  The  plain  where  the  College  stands  is  large  and 
pleasant,  and  the  land  good.  The  College  is  about 
seventy  or  eighty  feet  long  and  thirty  broad,  con- 
taining twenty  chambers.  The  hall  is  a  distinct 
building,  which  also  serves  for  a  meeting-house, 
and  the  kitchen  is  in  one  end  of  it.  The  President's 
house  stands  on  a  rising  ground  east  of  the  College, 
and  to  the  north  of  this  is  the  place  proposed  to 
build  the  new  college,  near  a  quarry  of  gray  stone 
which  is  intended  for  the  material  of  the  building. 
There  is  another  quarry,  much  larger,  about  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  distant.  The  tutors  are  Messrs. 
Woodward,  Ripley,  Wheelock,  and  Smith;  the  two 
former  are  married  to  the  President's  daughters. 
Several  tradesmen  and  taverners  are  settled  round 
the  College  in  good  buildings,  —  which  gives  the 
place  the  appearance  of  a  village.  ...  It  is  really 
surprising  to  observe  the  improvements  that  have 
been  made  in  few  years.  .  .  ." 

With  progress  came  —  early,  in  Dartmouth's  case 
-  the  inevitable  revolt  that  every  college  faces  at 

49 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

some  time  in  its  career:  the  uproar  over  poor  pro- 
visions for  the  appetite  and  stomach  in  Commons. 
The  trouble  was  started  by  some  young  gentlemen 
students  from  Portsmouth,  to  whom  Eleazar  Whee- 
lock's  backwoods  fare  did  not  appeal  after  their 
luxurious  home  tables.  They  wrote  hot  letters 
of  protest  to  their  parents  and  even  sent  by  special 
messenger  some  samples  of  a  particularly  repulsive 
bread  as  evidence  of  the  justice  of  their  protests. 
The  president,  returning  from  a  trip  to  the  down- 
country  in  a  towering  rage,  expelled  the  ringleader 
in  the  uprising  and  indefinitely  suspended  several 
others.  But,  though  he  could  play  the  imperator 
at  Hanover,  he  could  not  suppress  the  scandal, 
which  had  gotten  far  beyond  his  precincts.  Even 
the  genial  and  always  friendly  Governor  Wentworth 
was  stirred  to  action.  Under  date  of  July  6,  1774, 
he  wrote  to  Wheelock: 

MY  DEAR  AND  REVEREND  FRIEND,  —  Amidst  the  vari- 
ety of  important  and  naturally  perplexing  affairs  which 
deeply  engage  my  mind  at  this  very  disquieted  juncture 
of  American  agitations,  nothing  lies  nearer  my  heart 
than  the  interest  and  honor  of  Dartmouth  College,  with 
which  yours  is  inseparably  connected.  It  is  therefore 
with  the  utmost  grief  that  I  perform  the  strict  duty  of 
friendship  to  both  in  telling  you  that  it  is  reported  and 
rapidly  gains  belief  that  your  provision  for  the  students  is 
extremely  bad,  their  entertainment  neither  clean,  plenti- 

50 


GETTING   UNDER  WAY 

ful,  nor  wholesome,  though  the  price  and  expense  exceeds 
for  comfortable  living;  that  the  youth  are  thereby  un- 
healthy and  debilitated,  their  constitutions  impaired, 
and  their  friends  and  parents  highly  disgusted.  These 
reports  assail  me  on  all  sides  from  those  who  have  and 
those  who  have  not  children  under  your  care.  .  .  . 

Wholesome,  sound,  and  plentiful  food  must  be  pro- 
vided. The  very  name  of  putrefied,  stinking  provisions 
in  a  College  alarms  parents,  who  wish  to  secure  health 
to  their  sons.  Twenty  oxen  badly  saved  had  better  be 
cast  into  the  river  and  perish,  than  one  month's  improper 
diet  be  given  to  the  students.  I  would  not  wish  to  see 
profusion  or  delicacy  enter  our  walls.  Cleanliness, 
plenty,  and  plainness  should  never  be  absent. 

Belknap  evidently  found  the  uprising  in  full 
swing  on  his  Commencement  visit  to  Dartmouth. 
"  The  President,"  says  his  diary,  "  appears  to  be 
much  affected  with  the  reports  that  are  circulated 
concerning  the  badness  of  the  provisions,  on  which 
account  some  have  left  the  College.  Last  evening  he 
entered  into  a  large  and  warm  vindication  of  him- 
self, declaring  that  the  reports  are  all  false,  and  that 
he  did  not  doubt  but  '  God  would  bring  forth  his 
righteousness  as  the  light,  and  his  judgment  as  the 
noonday.'  He  has  had  the  mortification  to  lose  two 
cows,  and  the  rest  were  greatly  hurt  by  a  contagious 
distemper,  so  that  they  could  not  have  a  full  supply 
of  milk;  and  once  that  the  pickle  leaked  out  of  the 
beef  barrel,  so  that  the  meat  was  not  so  sweet.  He 

51 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

had  been  ill-used  with  respect  to  the  purchase  of 
some  wheat,  so  that  they  had  smutty  bread  for  a 
while.  The  scholars,  on  the  other  hand,  say  they 
scarce  ever  had  anything  but  pork  and  greens, 
without  vinegar,  and  pork  and  potatoes,  that  fresh 
meat  comes  but  very  seldom,  and  that  the  victuals 
are  very  badly  dressed." 

To  this  the  paying  students  (the  charity  pupils 
having  been  shown  the  wisdom  of  signing  a  paper 
declaring  that  the  bad  food  stories  were  "  false  and 
abusive ")  added  that  their  Commons  breakfast 
was  "  mostly  the  leaves  of  wintergreen  made  into 
a  tea,  and  even  that  often  sweetened  with  molasses; 
many  times  only  broth  for  breakfast,  then  coffee 
or  chocolate,  usually  sweetened  with  molasses,  and 
beef  unfit  to  eat." 

The  trustees  finally  felt  compelled  to  take  cog- 
nizance of  the  outcry.  They  investigated  and  re- 
solved that  the  complaints  were  groundless,  "  only 
that  for  a  few  days  some  beef  was  served  by  the 
cook  which  (though  accidentally  tainted  in  a  small 
degree)  was  judged  by  them  to  be  such  as  the  stu- 
dents will  generally  approve." 

Wheelock's  cooks,  it  may  be  said,  were  the  bane 
of  his  life,  what  with  their  affiliation  with  New 
England  rum  and  their  unclassical  lack  of  the  proper 
distinction  between  meum  and  tuum.  On  one  oc- 

52 


casion  a  couple  were  ordered  to  the  whipping-post 
together  for  their  thievery. 

But  the  cooks  were  not  altogether  responsible  for 
the  protests  against  the  college  provender  that  came 
to  the  surface  periodically  for  years,  under  the  re- 
gimes of  all  sorts  of  stewards,  agents,  purveyors,  or 
whatever  their  titles  may  have  been.  Chase  records 
that  in  the  reign  of  one  Roger  Sargent,  "  at  one 
time,  the  butter  being  persistently  strong,  one  of 
the  students  (afterwards  a  distinguished  lawyer  of 
New  Hampshire)  was  deputed,  while  all  the  others 
stood  at  their  places,  to  apostrophize  the  offensive 
stuff  and  bid  it  '  down  '  from  their  sight.  It  is  said 
that  the  rebuke  was  effectual." 

Another  of  Wheelock's  troubles  were  the  tavern- 
keepers  in  the  settlement  and  across  the  Connecti- 
cut River.  In  spite  of  the  president's  protest  and 
even  Governor  Wentworth's  influence,  they  received 
licenses  from  the  court  to  sell  liquor.  Payne's  inn, 
near  the  college,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
disreputable  of  all,  obtained  its  permit  by  reason 
of  the  pique  of  one  Sympson,  the  high  sheriff, 
who  thought  he  had  been  slighted  at  the  first 
Commencement.  Payne  did  not  hesitate  to  sup- 
ply the  students  with  rum,  and,  though  a  stern 
edict  against  visiting  taverns  had  been  issued  in 
the  second  year,  the  place  was  much  frequented. 

53 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

Even  Wheelock's  sons  were  occasional  sinners  in 
this  regard. 

The  Dartmouth  of  July,  1843,  printed  a  reminis- 
cence of  Reverend  Noah  Miles,  a  student  in  the 
first  Wheelock's  time,  on  this  subject:  "  It  seems 
that  Mr.  Miles's  chum,  having  indulged  in  a  spree 
at  Payne's  tavern,  came  home  very  drunk  and  sick. 
He  was  sent  for  to  the  President's  study,  but  being 
too  sick  to  go,  Miles  went  in  his  stead,  rapped,  and 
entered.  The  President  was  busy  at  his  writing- 
table,  with  his  great  white  wig  on  his  head.  The 
conversation  was  something  like  this:  'Ah,  Miles! 
it  is  you.  But  where  is  your  chum?  I  sent  for  him; 
why  does  he  not  come?  '  '  Sir,  he  is  not  able  to 
come.'  '  But  he  can  walk,  can  he  not? '  '  Sir,  he 
cannot  stand  upon  his  feet.'  '  Indeed,  then  he  is 
badly  done  up.  This  is  a  miserable  affair.  That 
tavern  is  a  nuisance.  But  can  you  tell  me,  Miles, 
whether  my  sons  Eleazar  and  James  were  there? ' 
'  Sir,  I  understand  that  they  were.'  '  Ah!  I  sus- 
pected it.  Bad  boys  of  mine!  I  have  some  hopes 
of  James  yet;  but  as  to  Eleazar  he  will  be  damned, 
I  believe.'  " 

Wheelock  thundered  against  the  .nuisance  even 
in  the  pulpit.  Payne  responded  by  tearing  down 
the  president's  fence  under  some  pretext  or  other 
and  with  authority  as  highway  surveyor.  Then 

54 


GETTING   UNDER  WAY 

one  Joseph  Skinner,  "  not  knowing  the  fear  of  God 
before  his  eyes  and  being  moved  by  the  instigation 
of  the  Devil  ",  tacked  up  on  the  door  of  the  College 
Hall  a  writing  calling  the  president  a  liar  and  a 
hypocrite  who  was  bound  for  hell.  For  this  pleasan- 
try he  had  to  pay  twenty  shillings  and  costs.  Some 
sophomores  and  freshmen  petitioned  that  they 
might  use  some  of  their  spare  time  "  in  stepping  the 
minuet  and  learning  the  sword."  Such  were  a  few 
of  the  crosses  of  the  founder.  Yet  he  had  some 
consolation.  In  February,  1775,  he  wrote  of  a  great 
religious  revival: 

Love,  peace,  and  joy  reign  triumphant.  The  only  dis- 
course now  in  fashion  when  students  visit  at  one  another's 
rooms  is  of  the  things  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  And 
it  would  be  a  reproach  to  anyone  if  he  should  introduce 
anything  frothy,  vain,  trifling,  or  unprofitable  into  con- 
versation. ...  It  has  seemed  to  be  wholly  confined  to 
the  College,  until  within  a  few  days  it  has  spread  to  all 
the  houses  in  the  neighborhood,  excepting  one,  viz.,  a 
tavern  [Payne's];  and  my  little  captive  boys  discover 
that  something  uncommon  is  the  matter,  and  are  often 
in  tears. 

But  Dartmouth  grew  in  spite  of,  perhaps  because 
of,  its  trials  and  difficulties.  In  March,  1772,  it 
housed  fifty  students,  including  six  Indians;  in 
November,  1774,  there  were  a  hundred,  of  whom 
twenty-one  were  Indians.  The  reputation  of  the 

55 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

college  spread  abroad.  In  1775  Reverend  Joseph 
Huntington  wrote  that  in  Connecticut  it  "  was 
generally  esteemed  the  best  on  the  continent." 
Very  likely  Wheelock's  statement  that  he  thought 
it  proper  "  to  let  the  world  know  that  there  is  no 
encouragement  given  that  such  as  are  vain,  idle, 
trifling,  flesh-pleasing  .  .  .  will  be  admitted  here  " 
had  something  to  do  with  enhancing  admiration 
for  the  college  among  the  Connecticut  godly. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  the  Indian 
problem  became  serious.  Some  good  redskins  had 
come  to  Hanover,  among  them  sons  of  the  St. 
Francis  chiefs  to  the  north.  In  fact,  Canada  had 
now  become  the  recruiting  ground  for  Wheelock, 
who  maintained  as  late  as  in  1773  that  "  the  Indians 
are  the  first  object  in  the  charter."  Ten  came  from 
the  Caghenanagas  in  1772.  A  few  Hurons  were 
obtained.  But  it  was  evident  from  the  moment  of 
the  trouble  on  Lexington  Green  that  the  supply  of 
aborigines  for  Dartmouth  was  to  cease.  The  Cana- 
dian Indians  were  restless  ever  and  not  so  amenable 
to  restraint  as  their  brothers  of  the  New  England 
and  New  York  provinces  had  been.  The  white 
students  disliked  and  mistrusted  them  and  com- 
plained of  their  perpetual  "  hollowing  and  making 
all  manner  of  noise."  They  had  a  penchant  for 
"  big  beer  ",  as  they  called  it,  even  the  youngsters. 

56 


GETTING   UNDER   WAY 

Had  there  been  no  Revolution,  it  was  still  inevi- 
table that  the  Indians  would  have  been  lost  to 
Dartmouth,  retreating  into  the  forests  before  the 
white  man's  overwhelming  civilization  and  refusing 
to  come  out.  The  Indian  Charity  School  could 
never  again  have  been  pulled  up  to  follow  them. 
Wheelock's  intentions  remained  honest  to  the  last, 
but  circumstances  were  stronger  than  his  will,  of 
iron  though  it  was. 

Dartmouth's  career  during  the  Revolutionary 
War  was  peaceful  enough,  compared  with  the 
troubles  of  other  American  colleges.  Her  isolation 
was  an  advantage,  though  rendering  her  open  to 
Indian  attacks,  which,  however,  came  no  nearer 
than  Royalton  in  Vermont.  Undoubtedly  her 
peculiar  relations  to  the  red  tribes  counted  much 
in  her  favor.  As  to  the  war  itself,  no  military  opera- 
tions reached  anywhere  near  the  college,  .though 
Lord  Dartmouth  was  anxious  enough  to  entreat 
"  that  the  safety  of  the  College  might  be  recom- 
mended to  both  General  Sir  William  Howe  and  his 
brother  the  Admiral  ",  thus  revealing  an  impression 
on  the  noble  earl's  part  that  the  Connecticut  could 
be  ascended  by  a  fleet  of  war-ships. 

But  if  not  visible,  warfare  was  audible,  for  it  has 
always  been  asserted  that  the  booming  of  the  guns 
of  Bunker  Hill  was  heard  in  Hanover.  The  presi- 

57 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

dent's  diary  contains  this:  "  June  16  —  The  noise 
of  cannon  supposed  to  be  at  Boston,  was  heard 
all  day.  iyth  —  The  same  reports  of  cannon.  We 
wait  with  impatience  to  hear  the  occasion  and  the 
event."  The  noise  was  first  noted  by  Daniel  Simons, 
an  Indian  sophomore,  who  happened  to  be  lying 
with  his  ear  to  the  ground.  Hard  to  believe  as  the 
story  is,  the  diary,  the  noises,  and  the  dates  would 
seem  to  establish  its  accuracy. 

It  is  proudly  held  by  local  historians  that  there 
never  was  a  Tory  in  Hanover  after  Concord  and 
Lexington.  Certainly,  if  any  one  there  had  justifi- 
cation for  leaning  toward  the  royalists,  it  was  the 
president  of  Dartmouth  College.  His  funds  had 
mostly  come  from  England  and  were  now  to  be  shut 
off.  His  location  and  many  favors  of  all  kinds  were 
from  the  powerful  hand  and  the  kindly  heart  of  the 
royal  governor,  John  Wentworth.  His  outlook, 
with  these  sources  of  assistance  gone,  was  gloomy 
enough.  But  when  once  the  irrepressible  conflict 
was  seen  to  be  preparing,  he  did  not  waive  his  alle- 
giance to  liberty.  As  early  as  November,  1774,  he 
dared  write  to  Wentworth  of  "  the  cause  of  liberty 
which  is  so  justly  dear  to  them  "  (Bostonians)  and 
in  April,  1775,  to  Thornton,  the  Englishman: 

"  I  believe  there  never  was  a  more  dutiful,  loyal, 
and  well-affected  people  to  Government  than  has 

58 


GETTING   UNDER   WAY 

ever  been  in  these  colonies  till  the  Stamp  Act.  And 
the  colonies  have  ever  been  propense  to  peace  and 
reconciliation  till  those  horrid  murders  and  savage 
butcheries,  so  inhumanly  committed  under  pre- 
tence of  reducing  rebels  to  obedience.  The  wringing 
of  the  nose  bringeth  forth  blood.  Our  liberties  were 
dearly  bought,  and  we  have  tasted  the  sweetness  of 
them,  and  esteem  them  our  birthright;  and  perhaps 
his  Majesty  will  find  they  will  not  be  given  up  so 
tamely  as  he  imagines.  The  colonies  seem  to  be 
determined  they  will  not  be  slaves." 

The  British  friends  of  the  college  were  tremen- 
dously enraged  at  this,  but  the  patriotism  of 
Eleazar  Wheelock  had  been  proven,  to  his  eternal 
glory.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  no  Com- 
mencement, nor  scarcely  any  regular  exercise  of  the 
college  omitted  during  the  war,  so  long  as  he  lived. 
Nor  was  there  any  interruption  after  his  death. 

Wheelock's  son  John  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in 
Bedel's  regiment  and  did  good  service  against 
Brant's  Indians  in  New  York,  where  one  of  his 
father's  former  pupils,  Butler,  was  committing  many 
atrocities  against  the  whites.  He  afterward  was 
on  General  Gates'  staff  with  the  same  rank.  James 
and  Eleazar  also  saw  military  service  of  one  sort 
and  another,  the  latter  arousing  the  anger  of  his 
sire  by  enlisting  one  Denning,  "  a  laborer  which  I 

59 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

most  depended  on,  and  I  think  it  a  flagrant  evidence 
of  want  of  duty,  affection  and  tenderness  in  my  son 
toward  an  aged  and  afflicted  father,  on  the  verge  of 
the  grave  and  oppressed  with  a  weight  of  cares 
enough  for  an  angel."  The  elder  Eleazar  was  no 
doting  parent. 

At  the  time  of  that  writing  in  his  diary,  the 
president  was,  indeed,  nearing  the  Angel  of  the 
End,  and  he  knew  it.  For  some  years  he  had  been 
tormented  by  asthma  and  a  persistent  skin  ailment. 
In  the  first  month  of  1779  epileptic  seizures  began 
to  rack  his  frame.  Pathetically  he  wrote  to  Na- 
thaniel Whitaker:  "  I  now  feel  more  than  ever  the 
want  of  a  pension,  which  I  think  the  world  owes  me, 
with  which  I  might  buy  a  cask  of  wine  and  other 
suitable  spirits  which  my  physicians  all  advise  to  be 
necessary  for  me,  also  coffee,  chocolate,  tea,  etc., 
which  I  am  obliged  to  live  wholly  without  for  want 
of  money  to  purchase  the  same." 

But  outwardly  Wheelock  fought  death  as  he  had 
fought  nature,  and  obstacles,  and  men;  slanders, 
politics,  and  hostile  intrigues.  He  could  no  more 
have  laid  down  life  and  its  all-possessing  interests 
without  a  struggle,  pious  fatalist  though  he  was, 
than  he  could  tamely  submit  to  the  charge  of 'being 
a  Tory  because  he  chanced  to  celebrate  Thanks- 
giving at  Dartmouth  on  the  wrong  date  through  a 

60 


GETTING   UNDER   WAY 

perfectly  pardonable  error.  He  taught  and  preached 
till  he  had  to  be  carried  to  the  hall  in  a  chair,  and 
then,  too  weak  for  that,  received  the  students  in 
his  own  house.  He  died  almost  standing,  for  on 
the  last  day  it  is  told  of  him  that  "  he  walked  the 
room  without  assistance  and  talked  with  composure." 
"  O  my  family,  be  faithful  unto  death  "  was  his 
final,  and,  in  the  light  of  the  after  years,  strangely 
significant  utterance.  On  the  day  of  his  passing, 
April  24/1779,  he  was  a  few  days  less  than  sixty- 
eight  years  of  age. 

Thus  went  to  his  fathers  a  man  around  the  esti- 
mate of  whose  qualities  there  has  long  been  and 
perhaps  will  always  be  a  conflict  of  opinion.  It  is 
clear  that  those  who  liked  him  could  never  be 
shaken  in  their  loyalty,  and  that  those  who  disliked 
him  did  so  with  a  cordiality  usually  reserved  for 
the  devil  in  that  era,  which  proves  his  individuality 
and  strength  of  character.  We  know  his  tenacity 
of  purpose  and  his  unfailing  courage.  That  he  was 
quarrelsome  and  vain  and  given  to  assuming  too 
much  of  a  monopoly  in  the  knowledge  of  the  plans 
of  Providence  may  be  more  than  suspected.  But 
his  littlenesses  were  very  little  and  his  greatness 
very  great  indeed. 

Eleazar  was  a  supreme  dictator  in  the  college  he 
had  made,  but  to  be  just  that  was  a  necessity  under 

Gl 


the  circumstances.  He  was  patriarchal  in  his  ways, 
and  there  must  have  been  a  gentler  side  to  his  nature 
that  history  rather  loses  sight  of,  for  many  of  his 
students  have  written  of  him  with  genuine  affec- 
tion. On  the  simple  slab  that  covers  his  tomb  in 
the  lovely  cemetery  at  Hanover,  where  trees  and 
grasses  and  mossy  glens  form  a  perfect  picture  of 
peace,  is  inscribed  this  epitaph  to  a  man  of  action: 

"  By  the  Gospel  he  subdued  the  ferocity  of  the  savage; 
And  to  the  civilized  he  opened  new  paths  of  science. 

Traveller, 

Go,  if  you  can,  and  deserve 
The  sublime  reward  of  such  merit." 

That  challenge,  which  in  effect  bids  the  traveler 
fare  forth  and  create  another  Dartmouth  College, 
if  he  is  able,  might  have  come  from  the  very  lips 
of  him  of  the  lion  heart  who  lies  under  it. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    REIGN    OF    THE    CROWN    PRINCE 

WHEN  John,  the  Crown  Prince  of  the  dynasty 
of  Wheelock,  received  word  of  his  accession 
to  the  rule  of  Dartmouth  College,  he  was  in  New 
Jersey  with  General  Gates.  Bezaleel  Woodward, 
Eleazar's  son-in-law  and  the  ranking  member  of  the 
faculty,  acted  as  president  in  the  brief  interval 
before  the  soldier  should  return.  Woodward  was  a 
man  of  great  ability,  an  astute  politician  and  a 
skilful  contender.  He  might  have  made  a  better 
president  than  did  Prince  John,  had  his  selection 
been  possible,  yet  the  very  failings  of  the  founder's 
son  produced  a  condition  that  did  more  for  Dart- 
mouth and  every  other  college  in  the  country  than 
any  successful  administration  could  possibly  have 
accomplished. 

But  the  charter  had  given  Eleazar  Wheelock  the 
power  to  name  his  successor,  and  in  his  will  he 
declared:  "  I  do  therefore  hereby  nominate,  consti- 
tute, and  appoint  my  said  son,  JOHN  WHEELOCK, 
to  be  my  successor  in  said  office  of  President  of  my 
Indian  Charity  School,  and  Dartmouth  College, 

63 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

with  and  into  which  said  School  is  now  incorporated. 
And  to  him  I  give  and  grant  all  my  right,  title,  and 
claim  to  said  seminary,  and  all  the  appurtenances, 
interest,  jurisdiction,  power,  and  authority  to,  in, 
and  over  the  same  belonging  to  me,  as  the  founder 
of  it,  or  by  grant  in  the  charter  to  me,  or  by  any 
other  ways  or  means  whatsoever." 

The  colonel,  who  reached  Hanover  for  the  August 
Commencement,  was  a  bit  inclined  to  shy  at  the 
difficult  task.  The  college  was  like  a  ship  without  a 
rudder,  now  that  the  elder  Wheelock  had  gone  and 
with  him  the  one-man  paternalism  that  was  the 
very  essence  of  the  institution.  The  finances  were 
in  sorry  shape;  it  was  estimated  by  Colonel  Elisha 
Payne,  the  treasurer,  that  if  all  the  corporate 
property  were  sold  at  public  vendue,  the  proceeds 
would  not  pay  the  college's  debts.  Receipts  from 
students  were  less  than  eighty  pounds  a  year.  The 
buildings  were  constantly  growing  more  shabby  and 
some  were  dry-rotting. 

To  add  to  the  general  gloom,  the  war  had  depleted 
the  supply  of  students  until  there  were  now  only 
about  thirty  altogether;  although  the  "  School  ", 
the"  preparatory  department,  was  well  attended. 
Even  food  was  scarce,  owing  to  crop  failures  and  the 
falling  purchasing  power  of  Continental  money. 
Sylvanus  Ripley  believed  "  that  the  College  would 

64 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  CROWN  PRINCE 

have  been  broken  for  want  of  provisions,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  resolute  exertions  of  Professor 
Woodward."  The  trustees,  however,  seem  to  have 
felt  no  particular  alarm,  for  they  permitted  the 
college  to  pay  three  hundred  pounds  (currency  at 
twenty  to  one)  for  their  delectation  at  Commence- 
ment, bills  for  spirituous  comforts  having  no  small 
share  in  the  expenditures. 

Another  thing  that  had  torn  and  harassed  the 
college,  made  powerful  enemies  for  it,  and  hurt  its 
usefulness  was  the  bitter  political  fight  that  had 
been  raging  for  some  years  between  New  Hampshire 
and  New  York  for  the  possession  of  Vermont  and 
the  strip  east  of  the  Connecticut  River.  Hanover 
had  become  the  storm-center  of  the  battle,  and  the 
"  College  Party  "  most  active  in  the  affair. 

The  Dartmouth  part  of  the  town  now  set  up  a 
separate  organization,  calling  itself  Dresden.  A 
printing-press  was  hurried  up  from  Connecticut  at 
the  elder  Wheelock's  request,  and  a  paper  called  the 
Mercury  established  on  the  college  plain,  from 
which  vitriolic  editorials  and  pamphlets  issued  regu- 
larly to  assail  the  really  scandalous  policy  of  New 
Hampshire  in  refusing  any  of  the  college  officers  a 
seat  in  the  Assembly  and  otherwise  insulting  and 
browbeating  the  "  grant  land  "  towns  along  the  river. 

When  the  famous  Westminster  Convention  of 

65 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

January  15,  1777,  declared  the  territory  known  as 
the  "  New  Hampshire  Grants  "  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent State  under  the  name  of  "  New  Connecti- 
cut ",  the  "  College  Party  "  was  strenuous  in  its 
support  and  had  the  beatific  vision  of  a  new  com- 
monwealth, with  Dresden  as  its  capital  and  Dart- 
mouth College  its  ruling  power.  In  fiery  opposition 
at  once  had  arisen  the  Bennington  party,  under  the 
lead  of  the  Aliens,  Ethan  and  Ira,  who  termed  the 
"  College  Party  "  as  made  up  of  "  a  Petulent,  Pette- 
foging,  Scribbling  sort  of  Gentry,  that  will  keep 
any  government  in  hot  water  till  they  are  thor- 
oughly brought  under  by  the  exertions  of  authority." 
Again,  the  "  Exeter  Party  ",  representing  New 
Hampshire's  interests  in  the  territory,  was  equally 
offended  and  bitter. 

When  the  "  New  Connecticut  "  scheme  was  killed 
by  the  Aliens,  and  the  State  of  Vermont  proclaimed, 
Dresden  and  the  other  "  grant  towns "  to  the 
number  of  sixteen  seceded  from  New  Hampshire 
and  joined  the  new  commonwealth.  The  first 
Wheelock,  smarting  over  his  treatment  by  New 
Hampshire,  had  then  asked  the  Vermont  Assembly 
to  take  Dartmouth  "  under  your  friendly  and 
Charitable  patronage  ",  which  the  Assembly  pro- 
ceeded to  do.  But  the  union  lasted  less  than  six 
months,  and  the  "  College  Party  "  returned  to  its 

66 


former  dream  of  an  independent  State  on  both  sides 
of  the  Connecticut. 

The  squabble  finally  reached  the  Continental 
Congress  and  even  involved  George  Washington, 
who  used  his  influence  for  the  Aliens  and  against 
the  collegians.  Eventually  New  Hampshire's  claims 
as  far  as  the  Connecticut  were  enforced  by  Con- 
gress. Dresden  became  a  part  of  Hanover  once 
more,  and  Hanover  became  an  intellectual  capital 
only,  with  little  claim  to  fame,  save  as  the  possessor 
of  Dartmouth  College. 

Into  all  this  turmoil,  this  poverty,  this  lack  of 
definite  policy  rode  the  youthful  soldier  from  the 
Revolutionary  Army.  Small  wonder  that  he  would 
have  preferred  to  remain  in  the  military  service. 
It  was  not  until  October,  1779,  that  he  consented 
to  enter  upon  the  presidency  of  the  college,  even 
nominally,  and  in  September,  1780,  he  offered  to 
resign.  The  trustees  refused  to  hear  him,  and  he 
yielded  to  the  inevitable  with  something  of  the 
courage  of  his  father  and  a  proper  respect  for  the 
mortmain  that  commanded  his  duty.  He  set  to 
work  with  vigor,  reorganized  the  faculty,  and  es- 
tablished a  code  of  behavior  for  the  students,  who 
had  long  complained  that  as  they  were  given  no 
laws,  they  could  not  tell  when  they  were  law-break- 
ers. This  array  of  academic  statutes  included  the 

67 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

customary  amusing  and  snobbish  specifications,  as 
for  instance: 

Of  their  conduct  and  behavior  towards  the  President 

That  the  conduct  and  behaviour  of  the  Students  towards 
the  Honourable  President  be  in  every  respect  with  that 
filial  duty  and  esteem  as  the  importance  and  dignity  of 
his  station  requires  (viz.)  uncovering  their  heads  at  and 
within  the  distance  of  four  rods  from  him;  also  when 
they  enter  his  dooryard,  when  the  weather  dont  render 
it  inconvenient  and  when  their  hands  are  not  necessarily 
otherwise  employed.  That  they  never  speak  of  him,  or 
to  him,  but  in  a  manner  savory  of  deference  and  respect. 
That  they  stand  when  in  his  presence  till  they  have  permis- 
sion to  sit.  That  they  wait  for  his  liberty  to  speak  when 
they  would  address  him  on  any  occasion.  That  they 
deliver  their  sentiments  with  modesty  and  propriety 
and  deliberately.  That  they  never  contradict  or  enter 
into  disputes  with  him;  but  propose  their  doubts  griev- 
ances or  arguments  by  way  of  decent  interrogation.  That 
they  wait  when  they  return  an  errand  to  him  for  his  lib- 
erty to  withdraw.  That  they  carry  their  hats  when  they 
wait  on  him,  and  use  no  indecent  gestures  in  his  presence. 

Toward  the  Tutors 

That  they  treat  the  Tutors  and  Professors  with  a  defer- 
ence and  respect  becoming  their  Office  and  relation 
to  them  (viz.)  That  they  uncover  their  heads  at  and 
within  the  distance  of  three  rods  from  them,  when  the 
weather  dont  render  it  inconvenient,  and  their  hands  are 
not  otherwise  necessarily  employed.  That  they  enter 
not  into  controversy  or  dispute  with  them  but  purpose 


THE   REIGN   OF  THE   CROWN  PRINCE 

what  they  have  to  say  by  way  of  decent  interrogation. 
That  they  rise  when  a  Tutor  enters  the  room  where  they 
are  and  stand  till  he  is  seated  with  them  or  they  have 
otherwise  liberty  to  sit.  That  they  rise  when  spoken  by 
them  and  never  interupt  them  when  speaking.  That 
they  be  not  talkative  clamourous  or  noisy  nor  use  inde- 
cent gestures  before  them.  That  they  always  carry  their 
hats  when  they  visit  one  of  their  rooms.  That  they 
punctually  perform  their  orders  (unless  contradicted  by 
the  President)  and  always  return  their  errand  as  soon  as 
effected,  and  not  withdraw  without  liberty. 

•          Towards  one  another 

That  they  behave  with  respect  and  kindness  towards 
one  another  avoiding  everything  that  is  against  the  unity 
of  the  spirit  or  manifesting  a  want  of  friendship  or  con- 
trary to  the  Gentleman  or  Christian.  Junior  Classes 
shall  properly  acknowledge  the  superiority  of  their  Seniors 
by  giving  them  the  right  hand  in  walking  or  sitting  &c. 
Freshmen  when  in  the  College  or  in  the  Hall  and  when 
they  speak  to  seniors  shall  have  their  heads  uncovered 
and  when  in  their  company  shall  wait  to  be  bidden  before 
they  cover  them,  unless  their  be  such  reasons  to  the  con- 
trary as  have  been  mentioned.  Freshmen  shall  at  times 
hereafter  appointed  for  deversion  do  the  necessary  errands 
for  all  the  senior  Classes  who  have  themselves  served  a 
freshmanship  (provided  they  are  not  sent  more  than  half 
a  mile)  and  shall  faithfully  perform  and  return  the  same. 

Some  laws  to  prevent  disorder  and  immorality 

That  no  student  of  this  College  be  permitted  to  play 
at  cards,  Dice  or  any  other  unlawful  game  either  in  the 

69 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

College  or  any  other  place  whatever,  on  penalty  of  a  fine 
not  exceeding  twenty  shillings  for  each  offense  at  discre- 
tion of  a  President  or  a  Tutor  and  if  persisted  in  they 
shall  be  expelled.  That  no  students  board  at  a  tavern  or 
sit  at  a  tavern  unless  when  on  a  journey  or  with  express 
leave  obtained  for  it  from  the  President  or  Tutors  or  by 
desire  of  a  Parent  or  Guardian,  on  penalty  of  a  fine  of  two 
shillings  Lawful  money.  And  any  one  being  convicted 
of  a  breach  of  this  law  four  times  within  the  space  of  six 
weeks  shall  be  publicly  admonished.  Nor  shall  any 
student  of  said  College  be  at  a  tavern  after  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening  on  penalty  of  a  fine  of  three  shillings  law- 
ful money.  That  no  student  be  absent  from  his  study 
after  nine  o'clock  at  night  without  liberty  or  such  occasion 
as  President  or  Tutors  shall  think  sufficient  on  penalty 
of  one  shilling  lawful  money. 

That  no  scholar  send  for  or  procure  any  spirituous 
liquors  without  a  permit  from  the  President  or  a  Tutor 
for  which  he  shall  apply  in  person  unless  especially  de- 
tained at  which  time  he  may  send  for  one  by  a  Freshman 
by  whom  he  shall  assign  the  reason  for  not  comming 
himself;  and  the  purpose  for  which  he  desires  such  per- 
mit; and  such  permit  shall  specify  the  time  and  place  to 
which  liberty  is  granted  to  have  it  procured. 

Regulations  for  the  security  of  the  College  building  from 

damage 

That  all  the  students  keep  the  rooms  they  respectively 
inhabit  secure  from  damage.  That  if  rooms  that  are 
unoccupied  sustain  special  damage  the  cost  of  repairing 
shall  be  brought  into  contengent  charges.  If  a  student 
is  known  to  have  broken  a  window  or  to  have  done  any 
other  particular  damage  in  the  College  or  Hall  or  any 

70 


THE   REIGN   OF  THE   CROWN   PRINCE 

other   public   building,   he   shall   immediately   get   it   re- 
paired or  be- at  double  the  cost  of  reparation. 

If  any  student  shall  play  ball  or  use  any  other  deversion 
that  exposes  the  College  or  Hall  windows  within  3  rods 
of  either  he  shall  be  fined  two  shillings  for  the  first  offense 
45  for  the  2d  and  so  on  at  the  discretion  of  the  President 
or  Tutors.  It  is  earnestly  recemmended  and  injoyned 
upon  the  students  that  they  observe  neatness  and  clean- 
liness in  their  rooms  and  in  their  dress  and  avoid  every 
practice  in,  upon  or  about  the  College  that  may  be  dis- 
agreeable and  offensive. 

But  it  was  easier  to  deal  'with  a  refractory  student 
body  than  with  the  terrors  of  poverty.  No  sooner 
was  the  Crown  Prince  fairly  seated  upon  his  throne, 
than  the  inevitable  financial  troubles  began  to  beset 
him.  It  was  evident  that  Dartmouth  must  have 
money,  or  dwindle,  perhaps  to  the  vanishing-point. 
The  equipment  was  obsolete  and  rapidly  deteriora- 
ting. The  college  was  in  debt  to  everybody,  including 
the  faculty  and  the  president  himself  for  salaries 
due.  Notes  were  unpaid;  provision  dealers  became 
persistent  "  duns  ",  and  the  credit  of  the  college  was 
suffering  in  more  ways  than  one. 

Action  was  imperative.  The  trustees  decided  to 
send  the  president,  with  our  old  and  experienced 
friend,  Nathaniel  Whitaker,  and  Joseph  Hunting- 
ton,  to  foreign  parts  on  a  new  begging  expedition. 
Whitaker  refused,  and  the  matter  ended  in  the 

71 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

shire  Legislature  in  session  at  Portsmouth  on  Octo- 
ber 30,  1784.  This  permitted  the  raising  of  "  £3,000 
L.  M.  in  silver  and  gold,  clear  of  expense,  provided 
the  same  be  finished  within  three  years."  The 
lottery  was  a  dismal  failure,  due  not  so  much  to 
any  absence  of  the  gambling  spirit  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, as  to  the  lack  of  cash  to  indulge  it.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1785,  the  managers  made  a  pathetic  attempt  to 
sell  the  tickets  for  produce  and  grain,  and  about  a 
year  later  asked  "  to  be  relieved  from  their  em- 
barrassment "  by  the  Legislature,  and  were  duly 
relieved. 

Another  lottery,  that  of  September,  1787,  had 
somewhat  better  success,  and  a  drawing  of  the 
second  class  was  held,  the  place  being  the  college 
chapel  and  the  instrument  the  desk  therein.  Chase 
says  that  this  proceeding  was  "  much  to  the  scandal 
of  some  worthy  people."  A  few  of  the.  good  folk  of 
New  Hampshire  must  have  begun  to  have  a  primor- 
dial glimmering  of  the  fitness  of  things. 

But  with  all  the  financial  blows  that  fate  at  first 
gave  John  Wheelock,  the  work  of  setting  up  the 
new  main  building  went  bravely  ahead  on  the  site 
bequeathed  to  the  college  by  the  first  president. 
By  Commencement,  1787,  it  was  so  well  along  that 
the  exercises  were  held  in  it,  and  it  is  related  as  an 
incident  of  that  event  that  the  official  platform 

74 


Dartmouth  Hall 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE   CROWN  PRINCE 

broke  down  under  the  strain  of  greatness  placed 
upon  it,  and  that  some  of  the  solemn  dignitaries 
"  had  to  look  for  themselves  in  one  place  and  for 
their  wigs  in  another."  In  1791,  after  heroic 
struggles  to  pay  for  the  work,  the  building  was 
finished.  Upon  it  were  expended  in  all  something 
like  £4,500,  of  which  the  lottery  produced  £366. 
The  college  was  in  debt  over  it  for  years,  yet  it  was 
worth  all  the  anxiety  and  trouble  it  caused,  for  it 
did  more  to  stimulate  the  growth  and  reputation 
of  the  institution  than  any  other  thing  of  its  time. 

The  hall  was  built  of  wood,  but  was  large  and 
imposing;  Timothy  Dwight,  on  his  travels,  reported 
it  as  of  "  decent  "  appearance,  which  meant  more 
than  our  use  of  the  word  would  indicate.  It  was 
graceful  in  its  lines,  perfect  in  its  proportions,  a 
beautiful  piece  of  unconscious  Colonial  simplicity 
and  good  taste.  When  it  burned  in  1904,  after 
passing  safely  through  all  the  perils  of  open  fire- 
places, stoves,  candles,  kerosene,  and  gas  only  to 
fall  a  victim  to  the  ultra-modernity  of  electric  wiring, 
the  sons  of  the  institution  could  hardly  be  blamed  for 
feeling  at  first  that  with  the  passing  of  old  Dart- 
mouth Hall  had  gone  also  the  heart  of  the  college. 

No  chapel  was  at.  the  outset  provided  for  in  Dart- 
mouth Hall,  and  the  existing  place  of  worship  in  the 
ancient  College  Hall  was  at  this  time  in  a  shocking 

75 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

state,  so  shocking  that  upon  one  dark  night  in  1790, 
the  long-suffering  students  made  a  characteristic 
"  nocturnal  visitation "  and  tore  the  ramshackle 
structure  wooden  limb  from  wooden  limb.  Nobody 
was  disciplined  for  this  feat,  and  it  was  even  hinted 
that  the  president  and  faculty  were  secretly  de- 
lighted at  the  raid.  A  new  chapel  was  built  near  the 
site  of  the  Thornton  Hall  of  to-day.  Possibly  the 
students  may  have  felt  that  their  wrecking  of  Col- 
lege Hall  had  been  injudicious,  for  the  new  chapel 
was  "  without  a  chimney  and  never  profaned  by  a 
stove  ",  and  a  temperature  of  twenty  degrees  the 
wrong  side  of  zero  is  by  no  means  uncommon  at 
Hanover  in  winter. 

The  college  was  distinctly  growing  under  the 
reign  of  the  Crown  Prince.  It  soon  rivalled  any 
in  the  country  as  to  its  number  of  students.  In 
1786  it  sheltered  100,  in  1790  its  total  was  160.  It 
graduated  in  1791,  with  the  A.  B.  degree,  forty-nine 
men,  to  twenty-seven  each  at  Yale,  Harvard,  and 
Princeton.  In  the  decade  1780  to  1790,  Dartmouth 
graduated  363  men,  Harvard  394,  Yale  295,  and 
Princeton  240.  Dartmouth  was  not  then  the 
"  small, college  "  of  Webster's  time. 

Apparently  growth  in  numbers  was  not  accom- 
panied by  growth  in  godliness  or  decorum  in  the 
students.  Elder  Ariel  Kendrick,  who  was  a  Charity 

76 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  CROWN  PRINCE 

School  pupil  from  1785  to  1789,  gives  them  a  rather 
bad  character.  "  The  students  at  that  early  day  ", 
he  writes,  "  were  many  of  them  very  unruly,  law- 
less, and  without  the  fear  of  God.  On  a  certain 
night  they  met  according  to  agreement  and  pros- 
trated the  unsightly  hall  (the  old  Commons  Hall), 
of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  they  all  soon  presented 
to  their  brethren  their  names  written  in  a  circle.  I 
believe  they  paid  all  the  building  was  worth.  .  .  . 

"  The  number  of  the  students  at  this  College  at 
this  time  (1847)  is  much  larger  than  it  was  at  that 
early  day,  and  if  they  are  proportionally  head- 
strong and  ungovernable,  I  should  think  the  Faculty 
need  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  nerves  of  Achilles, 
the  patience  of  Job,  and  the  meekness  of  Moses  to 
manage  them.  .  .  .  The  stage  at  that  time  ex- 
hibited scenes  wounding  to  Christian  piety,  and  to 
which  modesty  was  indignant.  In  a  quarrel  on  the 
stage  one  would  stab  the  other,  and  he  would  fall  as 
dead,  wallowing  in  blood  from  a  concealed  bladder, 
which  was  wittingly  punctured  by  the  point  of  the 
sword.  A  student  would  take  the  stage,  assuming 
to  be  a  preacher,  and  with  a  pious  tone  would  bar- 
becue Scripture,  with  a  view  to  shower  contempt 
upon  unlearned  ministers.  One  of  these  young 
preachers,  in  executing  his  purpose,  said  that  '  Neb- 
uchadnezzar's fundament  was  het  seven  times 

77 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

hotter  than  ever  it  was  before.'  Another  on  decla- 
mation day  took  the  stage,  dressed  in  a  black  gown, 
a  band,  and  a  large  gray  wig,  with  a  book  under  his 
arm,  and  preached  a  sermon  from  the  following 
words:  '  Give  me  children,  or  else  I  die.'  ' 

There  can  be  no  wonder,  in  the  light  of  that  testi- 
mony, that  the  faculty  made  a  stringent  regulation 
"  that  all  dramatic  exhibitions,  either  of  a  comic  or 
a  tragic  nature,  and  spirituous  liquors  or  represent- 
atives thereof,  be  wholly  excluded  from  the  stage, 
and  that  no  profane  or  obscene  expression  or  rep- 
resentation, or  female  habit,  be  introduced  in  any 
exhibition  on  the  stage  on  penalty  of  a  fine  not  ex- 
ceeding five  shillings,  or  admonition."  Nor  was 
piety  in  much  better  practice  among  the  students. 
We  are  told  that  in  the  class  of  1799,  of  which  Ros- 
well  Shurtleff,  afterward  a  famous  professor  of 
divinity,  was  a  member,  only  one  man  publicly 
professed  Christianity.  The  natural  reaction  came 
in  1801  with  the  establishing  of  the  Students'  Re- 
ligious Society. 

The  consistent  and  unending  battle  with  poverty, 
however,  kept  most  other  considerations  in  the 
background  just  now.  John  Wheelock,  whatever 
his  faults  as  later  revealed,  was  no  weakling.  The 
"  res  angustae  domi  "  aroused  but  did  not  terrify 
him.  Even  the  loss  of  ten  thousand  dollars  spent 

78 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  CROWN  PRINCE 

in  unsuccessful  defense  of  the  college's  title  to  the 
Landaff  grant  did  not  appall  him.  He  sold  twenty 
thousand  acres  of  the  "  First  College  Grant  ",  now 
Clarksville,  at  a  shilling  an  acre,  putting  a  thousand 
pounds  into  the  treasury;  a  little  later  ten  thousand 
acres  more  went  for  £1250. 

In  addition,  the  president  bombarded  the  Legis- 
lature incessantly  with  petitions  for  aid.  He  asked 
for  an  annuity  of  two  hundred  pounds  "  to  continue 
during  the  embarrassed  condition  of  the  College  ", 
and  again  for  a  loan  of  six  hundred  dollars  to  help 
pay  some  of  the  institution's  more  pressing  debts. 
As  usual,  the  General  Court  responded  by  giving 
permission  for  a  new  lottery  that  should  raise 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  over  expenses.  This  brought 
in  about  four  thousand. dollars,  some  eight  hundred 
tickets  having  been  sold  in  Boston  alone,  because 
Harvard  was  not  at  that  time  competing  in  the 
business  of  academic  gambling.  There  was  also 
some  income  from  rents  in  the  town  of  Wheelock, 
Vermont,  a  part  of  which  had  been  set  aside  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Charity  School  in  1785. 

With  these  aids  and  the  Wheelock  tenacity  of 
purpose  as  its  directing  force,  the  college  struggled 
on  and  actually  grew  in  grace,  reputation,  and 
numbers,  although  from  1787  to  1803  the  whole 
instructing  body  consisted  of  the  president,  two 

79 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

professors  and  one  tutor.  Apparently  the  students 
of  that  period  were  not  averse  to  heckling  their 
grave  and  reverend  teachers.  Doctor  Shurtleff 
relates  of  Professor  Smith: 

"  He  was  constitutionally  nervous  and  timid. 
He  could  not  well  take  a  joke,  and  still  less  could  he 
retort  one.  When  a  little  disconcerted,  he  at  once 
lost  his  balance,  and  could  only  receive  with  meek- 
ness what  should  come  next.  Having  a  recitation 
of  the  class  of  1802  in  Watts'  Logic,  on  the  doctrine 
of  identity  notwithstanding  renewals  of  parts,  one  of 
the  class,  Fisk,  held  up  his  jack-knife  and  asked: 
'  If  I  lose  this  blade  and  get  a  new  one,  is  it  the  same 
knife?  '  '  Yes.'  '  If  I  next  lose  the  handle  and  get 
a  new  one,  is  it  still  the  same?  '  '  As  a  knife  it  is 
still  the  same.'  '  Well,  then,  my  chum  finds  the 
old  blade  and  handle  and  puts  them  together,  - 
what  knife  is  that?  '  which  silenced  the  professor." 

In  1797,  the  year  of  the  founding  of  the  Medical 
School,  Daniel  Webster  entered  college.  He  came 
immediately  from  his  father's  tavern  and  the 
historic  hayfield,  where  the  only  way  his  scythe 
would  "  hang  "  correctly  was  upon  the  limb  of  a 
shady  apple-tree.  But  he  had  had  a  partial  "  fit  " 
at  the  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  and  he  never  had 
any  intellectual  struggle  to  maintain  his  place  in 
his  class.  He  was  a  raw  specimen  when  he  reached 

80 


THE   REIGN  OF  THE   CROWN   PRINCE 

Hanover  and  "  put  up  "  at  what  is  now  known  as  I 
the    Leeds    house,    but    then    a    species    of   tavern. 
In  this  same  house,  it   may  here   be   noted,  Rufus 
Choate,   the  friend    and    compeer  of  Webster,  was 
married. 

The  "  Godlike  Daniel  "  was  not  impressive  as  a 
freshman.  He  was  thin,  awkward,  and  so  dark  that 
one  of  the  villagers  took  him  for  a  new  Indian  pupil 
on  his  arrival,  much  to  his  disgust. 

But  he  quickly  made  himself  felt  in  college, 
though  not  one  of  his  classmates  would  have  pre- 
dicted anything  far  out  of  the  common  for  him. 
He  had  personality,  and  he  could  make  speeches 
in  a  somewhat  better  style  than  the  dull,  sopho- 
moric  manner  of  the  day  —  that  much  they  felt 
sure  of.  In  his  senior  year  he  delivered  an  eulogy 
of  his  classmate  Simonds,  which  his  room-mate 
Aaron  Loveland  afterward  said  "  was  very  good, 
but  produced  no  extraordinary  effect."  A  sample 
is  quite  sufficient  to  show  its  crudities  of  expression: 
"  The  sun,  as  it  sinks  to  the  ocean,  plays  its  depart- 
ing beams  on  his  tomb,  but  they  re-animate  him  not. 
The  cold  sod  presses  on  his  bosom,  his  hands  hang 
down  in  weakness.  The  bird  of  evening  shouts  a 
melancholy  air  on  the  poplar,  but  her  voice  is  still- 
ness to  his  ears." 

In  his  junior  year,  Webster  gave  the  Fourth  of 

81 


July  oration  to  the  citizens  of  Hanover.  This  was 
a  more  finished  product,  but  still  marked  by  ex- 
travagances. He  termed  Napoleon  "  the  gascona- 
ding pilgrim  of  Egypt  "  and  declared  that  France, 
"  not  yet  satisfied  with  the  contortions  of  expiring 
republics,  spouted  her  fury  across  the  Atlantic!  " 
It  was  a  long  distance  from  that  sort  of  thing  to 
the  reply  to  Hayne;  but  Webster  was  yet  a  boy  of 
eighteen.  The  beginnings  of  the  orator  were  stirring 
within  him. 

The  college  life  of  "  Black  Dan  "  was  not  particu- 
larly eventful.  He  seems  to  have  behaved  rather 
better  than  the  times  demanded;  flirted  a  little 
with  the  "  college  widows  ";  drank  moderately 
enough,  so  far  as  there  is  any  record;  studied  hon- 
estly and  easily;  talked  in  public  and  in  his  literary 
society,  the  United  Fraternity,  on  all  possible  occa- 
sions and  wrote  poems  and  skits  for  the  Dartmouth 
Gazette,  receiving  in  all  about  seventy-five  dollars, 
enough  to  pay  a  whole  year's  board  in  that  glad  day 
of  moderate  prices.  He  afterwards  wrote  of  himself 
at  this  period: 

"  Of  my  college  life  I  can  say  but  little.  I  was 
graduated,  in  course,  in  August,  1801.  Owing  to 
some  difficulties,  haec  non  meminisse  juvat,  I  took  no 
part  in  the  Commencement  exercises.  I  spoke  an 
oration  to  the  Society  of  the  United  Fraternity,  which 

82 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE   CROWN  PRINCE 

I  suspect  was  a  sufficiently  boyish  performance.  My 
college  life  was  not  an  idle  one.  Besides  the  regular 
attendance  of  prescribed  duties  and  studies,  I  read 
something  of  English  history  and  English  literature. 
Perhaps  my  reading  was  too  miscellaneous.  I  even 
paid  my  board  for  a  year  by  superintending  a  little 
weekly  newspaper,  and  making  selections  for  it 
from  books  of  literature,  and  from  the  contempo- 
rary publications.  I  suppose  I  sometimes  wrote  a 
foolish  paragraph  myself. 

"  While  in  College  I  delivered  two  or  three  occa- 
sional addresses,  which  were  published.  I  trust  they 
are  forgotten;  they  were  in  very  bad  taste.  I  had 
not  then  learned  that  all  true  power  in  writing  is  in 
the  idea,  not  in  the  style,  an  error  into  which  the 
ars  rhetorica,  as  it  is  usually  taught,  may  easily  lead 
stronger  heads  than  mine." 

At  another  time  Webster  was  not  so  humble. 
_Professor  Sanborn,  dining  with  him  at  Franklin 
one  day,  observed:  "  It  is  commonly  reported  that 
you  did  not  study  much  in  College."  We  are  told 
that  the  "Godlike"  replied  angrily:  "What  fools 
they  must  be  to  suppose  that  anybody  could  succeed 
in  college  or  public  life  without  study!  I  studied  and 
read  more  than  all  the  rest  of  my  class,  if  they  had 
all  been  made  into  one  man.  And  I  was  as  much 
above  them  then  as  I  am  now."  Whether  that  was 

83 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

the  simple  and  natural  egoism  of  great  genius  or  the 
promptings  of  another  sort  of  inspiration,  Webster 
later  wrote  that  "  my  scholarship  was  overesti- 
mated. Many  other  students  read  more  than  I  did 
and  knew  more  than  I  did  ",  and  he  told  George 
Ticknor:  "  My  Greek  and  Mathematics  were  not 
great  while  I  was  in  College,  but  I  was  better  read 
in  history  and  English  generally  than  any  of  my 
class,  and  I  was  good  in  composition.  My  Latin 
,  was  pretty  strong,  too." 

Judge  Loveland  in  1857  gave  the  most  pungent 
estimate  of  Webster  as  a  collegian  that  can  be 
found  anywhere.  "  I  roomed  with  Webster  ",  said 
he,  "  about  one  year.  He  was  very  ambitious  in 
college  from  the  first,  and  took  every  opportunity 
to  make  himself  conspicuous.  He  had  unbounded 
self-confidence,  seemed  to  feel  that  a  good  deal  be- 
longed to  him,  and  evidently  intended  to  be  a  great 
man  in  public  life.  He  was  rather  bombastic  and 
always  ready  for  a  speech.  One  day  he  was  reading 
Addison's  '  Cato,'  putting  it  off  in  great  style,  when 
he  pronounced  '  Utica  '  as  if  the  first  letter  was 
short;  I  corrected  him,  and  he  said  I  was  right.  He 
did  a  great  deal  in  his  college  society,  and  received 
almost  unbounded  flattery  from  his  fellow-members. 
They  thought  he  was  great.  It  was  common  for 
others  to  say  they  overestimated  him.  He  was 

84 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  CROWN  PRINCE 

not  very  popular  with  the  class,  owing  to  his  being 
so  independent  and  assuming. 

"  On  one  occasion,  when  some  matter  was  dis- 
cussed before  the  class,  the  side  which  he  advocated 
received  but  few  votes,  whereupon  he  got  up  and 
left  the  room.  He  would  appear  rather  stuffy  if 
things  did  not  go  to  suit  him,  though  he  took  no 
special  pains  at  electioneering.  On  the  whole,  he  was 
regarded  as  our  ablest  man;  if  anything  was  to  be 
done  he  was  generally  appointed.  He  never  refused; 
would  always  take  hold  and  get  off  something,  and 
generally  did  well.  He  came  to  college  from  a 
tavern  kept  by  his  father,  who  was  in  embarrassed 
circumstances.  His  father  was  at  our  room  while 
we  were  together.  He  said  that  if  he  had  received 
education  in  youth,  he  could  have  done  anything  he 
chose. 

"  Dan  was  rough  and  awkward,  very  decidedly, 
and  I  sometimes  doubted  whether  he  would  succeed 
in  life  on  that  account.  Yet  there  was  something 
rather  assuming  and  pompous  in  his  bearing  as  well 
as  his  style.  He  observed  things  remarkably,  and 
was  quick  to  see  their  bearings.  He  was,  and  felt 
himself  to  be,  a  kind  of  oracle.  He  read  the  news- 
papers and  kept  himself  posted  upon  political  affairs 
remarkably  for  a  young  man.  He  read  a  good  deal 
also  of  general  reading.  If  any  distinguished  men 

85 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

were  about,  he  would  manage  to  fall  in  with  them; 
met  more  than  most  students,  and  was  distin- 
guished in  the  community  around  the  College,  for 
the  extent  and  readiness  of  his  political  knowledge. 
He  was  a  good,  though  not  a  very  accurate  scholar. 
He  would  occasionally  come  over  here  to  Norwich, 
Saturdays,  to  hunt  with  me.  Dan  seldom  hit  any- 
thing." 

The  hoary,  but  still  extant  bit  of  fiction  that 
Webster,  after  receiving  his  diploma,  went  out 
behind  Dartmouth  Hall  and  tore  the  document  to 
pieces  because  he  had  not  been  given  the  valedictory 
oration,  shouting  as  he  performed  the  deed:  "My 
industry  may  make  me  a  great  man,  but  this  miser- 
able parchment  cannot  ",  should  be  given  an  un- 
honored  burial  and  not  resurrected.  It  has  no  basis 
in  fact,  in  the  testimony  of  classmates,  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  man,  or  in  his  love  for  the  college,  which 
he  frequently  revisited  soon  after  leaving  it,  and 
to  which  he  sent  his  brother  and  his  son.  He  was 
disappointed  and  grieved,  but  he  did  not  act  like 
an  ingrate  or  a  fool. 

The  facts  were  that  Thomas  A.  Merrill,  "  the 
most  correct  recitation  scholar  in  the  class  ",  was 
awarded  the  salutatory,  at  that  time  the  chief  Com- 
mencement prize.  The  class  was  asked  to  elect  the 
valedictorian,  but  it  failed  to  do  so  on  account  of  a 

86 


THE  REIGN  OF  THE  CROWN  PRINCE 

bitter  quarrel  between  the  members  of  the  United 
Fraternity  and  the  Social  Friends.  It  is  said  that 
the  students  desired  and  expected  the  faculty  to 
choose  Webster,  but  that  body  gave  that  part  to 
Caleb  Tenney  and  offered  Webster  his  choice  be- 
tween an  English  poem  or  an  English  oration,  neither 
of  which  the  offended  Daniel  would  take.  "  The 
faculty  ",  wrote  Merrill  afterward,  "  thought  it 
would  be  almost  barbarous  to  set  the  best  English 
scholar  in  the  class  to  jabber  in  Latin." 

Thus  went  out  from  his  "  cherishing  mother  "  the 
greatest  figure  she  has  sent  into  the  world.  If  there 
was  a  cloud  of  dissatisfaction  over  his  exit,  affairs 
were  even  then  so  shaping  themselves  that  it  was 
soon  to  be  lifted  and  reveal  the  man  himself  in  the 
sunlight  of  his  fame  and  his  powers,  fighting  the/ 
winning  battle  that  saved  for  his  college  her  very 
life  itself. 


87 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    GREAT    " CASE  " 

JOHN  WHEELOCK'S  energy  and  executive  abil- 
ity of  a  certain  sort,  reflected  by  the  self-evident 
growth  of  the  college  through  his  long  reign,  was 
sufficient  for  many  years  to  still  the  sporadic  mut- 
terings  against  the  family  dynasty,  within  and 
without.  For  almost  a  generation  there  was  nothing 
that  the  hostiles  could  do,  except  mutter  and  try 
to  block  the  attempts  of  the  college  to  obtain  a 
crumb  or  two  from  the  legislative  table.  Wheelock 
was  a  man  of  determination,  and  in  his  Hanoverian 
castle  were  for  some  time  his  own  family  retainers. 
Doctor  Benjamin  Pomeroy,  one  of  the  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  board  of  ^trustees,  was  an  uncle  by  mar- 
riage. Bezaleel^  JWood ward,  another  trustee,  was 
his  brother-in-law.  Sylvanus  Ripley  was  still  an- 
other who  filled  both  functions. 

The  remaining  trustees,  who  lived  at  a  distance, 
were  not  often  at  meetings  of  the  board,  for  a  trip 
to  Hanover  over  the  still  fearsome  roads  was  un- 
attractive. The  dynasty  trustees,  themselves  ruled 

88 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

by  Wheelock,  naturally  regulated  matters  to  suit 
their  liege.  The  faculty  was  Wheelock  through  and 
through,  consisting  of  two  sons  and  two  sons-in-law 
of  Eleazar,  with  the  fifth  man,  Professor  Smith, 
practically  a  member  of  the  family. 

These  conditions  changed  with  time,  but  for  the 
first  years  of  his  reign,  Prince  John  governed  Dart- 
mouth as  an  absolute  monarch,  firm  in  his  belief 
that  as  his  father  had  been  the  college,  so  was  he  by 
divine  right  and  human  testament.  For  that  prin- 
ciple he  was  willing  to  fight  at  any  time,  and  fight 
he  had  to  with  the  waxing  of  the  new  century. 

Gradually  there  arose  from  the  necessities  brought 
about  by  the  deaths  of  the  older  members,  a  board  of 
trustees  that  knew  not  Eleazar  and  began  to  dare 
to  question  the  edicts  of  his  son.  The  new  notion 
of  taking  their  duties  and  responsibilities  seriously 
gradually  grew  among  them.  In  1804  but  one  mem- 
ber of  the  original  board  was  left.  John  Wheelock 
could  no  longer  play  Hamlet  with  the  ghost  of  his 
father  and  expect  to  see  it  potent.  In  minor  ways 
the  trustees  began  to  make  this  evident. 

It  was,  however,  one  of  those  religious  squabbles, 
not  uncommon  in  the  early  history  of  many  col- 
leges, that  finally  involved  the  president  and  his 
board  of  trustees  in  an  open  and  bitter  warfare  that 
was  not  to  cease  until  it  reached  the  greatest, tri- 

89 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

bunal  of  the  world  as  its  greatest  case  up  to  that 
time  and  argued  by  the  greatest  forensic  lawyer  of 
his  day.  From  the  small  white  church  that  now 
stands  in  such  demure  simplicity  at  the  north- 
western end  of  the  campus,  came  the  discordant 
elements,  as  from  an  ecclesiastical  Pandora's  box, 
that  raged  for  years  and  nearly  killed  the  college. 

The  house  of  worship,  whose  walls  rang  with  the 
Commencement  eloquence  of  every  class  from 
1796  to  1907,  was  built  in  1795  at  a  cost  of  about 
five  thousand  dollars.  It  was  the  property  of  "  The 
Church  of  Christ  at  Dartmouth  College  ",  not  of 
the  college  itself,  although  the  trustees  promised 
that  they  would,  in  better  financial  weather,  make 
up  a  part  of  the  cost  and  would  meantime  pay  for 
the  college  use  of  it.  The  proprietors  before  long 
began  to  look  for  the  rental.  It  was  slow  in  coming. 
Finally  the  trustees  voted  that  "  each  member  of 
the  College  shall  pay  one  dollar  on  the  second 
Wednesday  in  March  for  preaching  and  the  use  of 
seats  in  the  meeting  house  for  the  ensuing  year." 

This  tax  President  Wheelock  passed  on  to  the 
undergraduates,  and  their  indignation  knew  no 
bounds.  It  was  bad  enough,  they  protested,  to  be 
compelled  to  listen  to  Professor  Smith's  preaching 
without  being  made  to  pay  for  the  ordeal.  So  much 
of  a  storm  arose  that  the  trustees  soon  revoked  the 

90 


C^^-T*^ 


College  Church 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

order.  The  president  then  seceded  from  the  church, 
taking  all  the  students  and  Professor  Smith  to  the 
college  chapel  for  Sunday  services;  this  in  the  face 
of  the  agreement  of  the  trustees  to  compensate  the 
religious  society  for  the  attendance  of  the  students 
and  the  damage  they  should  do  to  the  pews,  which, 
judging  from  some  venerable  relics  still  extant 
thirty  years  ago,  was  considerable. 

The  trouble  was  adjudicated  in  1798,  and  the 
students  went  back,  with  their  jack-knives,  to  the 
church.  But  it  had  served  to  arouse  among  the 
trustees  a  fear  that  the  domination  of  the  president 
was  not  altogether  for  the  best. 

Soon  came  another  long  church  imbroglio  over 
the  question  of  pastor.  Wheelock  insisted  upon  his 
amiable  echo,  Doctor  Smith.  Whereupon  the 
Hanover  men  for  the  most  part  quit  the  old  church 
and  organized  "  The  Congregation  in  the  Vicinity 
of  Dartmouth  College "  with  Professor  Shurtleff 
as  its  minister. 

The  meeting-house  was  used  by  both  factions  at 
different  hours,  and  there  is  on  record  no  story  of 
any  clashes  more  serious  than  those  of  words. 
Wheelock's  anger  took  the  form  of  several  attempts 
upon  the  trustees  to  get  them  to  forbid  Shurtleff  to 
preach  for  the  new  church,  charging  him  with  neglect 
of  his  college  duties.  The  board  was  by  this  time 

91 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

more  Congregationalist  than   Presbyterian,   and   it 
'refused.     At  the   meeting  of  August   27,    1811,   it 
drew  up  a  statement  concluding  with  these  words: 

"  The  trustees  have  long  labored  to  restore  the  \ 
harmony  which  formerly  prevailed  in  this  Institu- 
tion, without  success:   and  it  is  with  reluctance  they    ) 
express  their  apprehension,  that  if  the  present  state    J 
of  things  is  suffered  to  remain  any  great  .length  of    / 
time,  the  College  will  be  essentially  injured."  / 

That  may  be  set  down  as  the  first  official  notice 
to  John  Wheelock  that  he  would  have  a  fight  on  his 
hands  if  he  did  not  mend  his  cantankerous  ways. 
The  trustees  had  reached  the  point  where,  as  one 
of  them  said,  they  were  no  longer  willing  that  even 
the  son  of  his  father  should  be  "  the  omnis  homo  of 
the  College."  They  began  to  pass  laws  curbing  his 
powers.  He  retorted  that  they  were  guilty  of  usurpa- 
tion and  perversion  of  funds. 

The_Jirst  shot  of  the  great  contest  was  fired  from  ^ 
ambuscade,  and  took  the  form  of  a  paragraph  in     J 
the^Boston  Repertory,  of  April  26,  1815,  stating  that    / 
as  a  result  of  "  difficulties  of  a  serious  and  unpleasant    S 
nature  ",  the  president  of  Dartmouth  College  might      j 
be  expected  to  resign  shortly,  and  that  the  trustees     1 
and  alumni  were  looking  about  for  his  successor.    ^/ 

As  this  was  what  John  Wheelock  had  no  remotest 
intention  of  doing,  the  effect  on  him  may  be  im- 

92 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

agined.  He  had  the  Dartmouth  Gazette  say  that  the 
item  was  "  a  gross  and  infamous  misrepresenta- 
tion ",  and  followed  up  this  retort  by  the  publica- 
tion of  an  anonymous  pamphlet  entitled  "  Sketches 
of  the  History  of  Dartmouth  College  and  Moor's 
Charity  School ",  accompanied  by  another  called 
"  A  Candid  and  Analytical  Review  "  of  the  former. 
The  president  wrote  the  first,  and  his  friend,  Rev- 
erend Elijah  Parish,  of  Byfield,  Massachusetts,  the 
second.  Both  were  vitriolic  in  their  denunciations  of 
the  trustees,  whom  they  accused  of  subordinating  the 
interests  of  the  college  to  their  religious  prejudices, 
the  inference  being  that  Wheelock  was  liberal  and 
the  board  a  set  of  hard-shelled  ecclesiastical  Tories. 

The  newspapers  promptly  jumped  into  the  fray, 
the  Concord  Patriot,  the  Portsmouth  Gazette  and  the 
Windsor  (Vt.)  Washingtonian  supporting  Wheelock, 
and  the  Concord  Gazette,  the  Portsmouth  Oracle  and 
the  Dartmouth  Gazette  lining  up  for  the  trustees. 
Soon  the  quarrel  became  political,  with  the  Feder- 
alists in  general  on  the  side  of  the  trustees,  and  the 
Democrats  espousing  the  cause  of  the  president. 
In  a  few  months  the  fight  was  an  issue  at  the  polls, 
and  the  members  of  the  Legislature  were  elected 
as  Wheelockites  or  anti-Wheelockites. 

In  June,  1815,  the  beleaguered  president  applied 
to  the  Legislature  for  help,  now  alleging  that  the 

93 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

trustees  were  scheming  "  to  strengthen  the  inter- 
est of  a  party  or  sect,  which  by  extending  its  influ- 
ence under  the  fairest  professions,  will  eventually 
affect  the  political  independence  of  the  people,  and 
move  the  springs  of  their  government." 

This  arrant  nonsense  and  characteristic  bombast 
must  have  been  regarded  seriously  by  the  solons, 
for  a  committee  was  appointed  to  hear  Wheelock's 
plea.  He  asked  for  legislation  to  enlarge  the  board 
of  trustees,  so  that  his  enemies  would  be  outnum- 
bered, promising  to  leave  half  his  estate  to  the  col- 
lege if  that  were  done.  The  Legislature  replied  by 
appointing  a  committee  to  go  to  Hanover  and  in- 
vestigate. The  session  was  fixed  for  August  16. 
Wheelock  immediately  sent  for  Mr.  Webster,  whom 
he*  had  retained  after  a  fashion  some  months  before 
to  represent  him  in  case  of  trouble.  But  the  message 
reached  Portsmouth  too  late,  and  Webster,  as  it 
appeared  from  a  letter  to  one  Dunham,  who  had 
attacked  him  viciously  for  alleged  breach  of  good 
faith,  would  not  have  come  in  any  event. 

:<  If  I  had  received  it  earlier,"  he  wrote,  "  I  could 
not  have  attended,  because  the  court  engaged  me 
at  home;  and  I  ought  to  add  here,  that  if  I  had  no 
other  engagements  at  the  time,  and  had  also  been 
seasonably  notified,  I  should  have  exercised  my  own 
discretion  about  undertaking  to  act  a  part  before 

94 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

the  committee  at  Hanover.  I  regard  that  as  no 
professional  call.  ...  I  am  not  quite  so  fully  con- 
vinced as  you  are,  that  the  president  is  altogether 
right,  and  the  trustees  altogether  wrong." 

That  disposes  of  the  assertion  that  Webster  be- 
trayed Wheelock  and  shifted  his  opinions  to  suit  the 
political  winds.  It  is  evident  that  he  was  not  on 
the  president's  side  at  any  time  after  the  real  lines 
of  the  struggle  had  been  drawn. 

On  the  assembling  of  the  investigators,  Wheelock 
immediately  presented  his  case  against  the  trustees, 
charging  them,  among  other  things,  with: 

Separating  the  church  founded  in  College,  and  blending 
the  ecclesiastical  concerns  of  the  College  with  those  of 
the  neighboring  people  and  clergy;  thus  subjecting  this 
public  institution  to  inconvenience  and  degradation,  by 
means  of  private  interference. 

Expending  the  funds  to  an  amount  unnecessary  and 
extravagant,  compared  with  the  sum  total  of  instruction. 

Refusing  to  apply  any  of  the  funds,  of  which  they  have 
control,  to  the  instruction  of  Indians. 

Interfering  with  the  power  of  the  President,  as  granted 
by  charter,  in  the  education  of  the  students,  and  also  with 
his  rights,  as  an  executive  officer. 

To  this  the  gentlemen  responded  rather  feebly, 
so  far  as  their  appearance  before  the  committee  was 
concerned;  but  they  acted  vigorously  enough. 
Wheelock  was  declared  to  be  and  denounced  as  the 

95 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

author  of  the  seditious  "  Sketches."  The  president 
replied  with  an  ungrammatical  and  pompous  blast 
of  defiance,  refusing  to  meet  with  the  board  and 
denying  its  jurisdiction.  Its  counter- thrust  was 
startling:  Wheelock  was  deposed.  At  six  in  the 
morning  of  August  26,  the  trustees  met  and  voted 
the  Crown  Prince's  academic  execution,  with  reso- 
lutions charging  him  with  libel  on  the  college;  with 
usurpation  of  the  whole  executive  authority;  with 
fraud  in  the  application  of  the  funds  of  Moor's 
School  by  passing  off  a  white  man  as  an  Indian; 
and  with  lying  as  to  the  cause  of  the  contest.  Thus 
they  concluded: 

They  consider  this  crisis  as  a  severe  trial  to  the  institu- 
tion, but  they  believe  that  in  order  to  entertain  a  hope 
that  it  will  flourish  and  be  useful,  they  must  be  faithful 
to  their  trust,  —  that  they  must  not  approve  of  an  officer 
who  labors  to  destroy  its  reputation,  and  embarrass  its 
eternal  concerns.  They  will  yet  hope  that  under  the 
smiles  of  Divine  Providence  this  institution  will  continue 
to  flourish,  and  be  a  great  blessing  to  generations  to  come. 

Therefore,  Resolved  that  the  appointment  of  Dr.  John 
Wheelock  to  the  presidency  of  this  college  by  the  last  will 
of  the  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock,  the  founder  and  first  Presi- 
dent of  this  College,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby,  by  the 
trustees  of  said  College,  disapproved,  and  it  is  further 
Resolved  that  the  said  Dr.  John  Wheelock  for  the  reason 
aforesaid,  be  and  he  is  hereby  displaced  and  removed 
"from  the  office  of  President  of  said  College. 

96 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

On  the  same  morning  the  board  chose  Reverend 
Francis  Brown,  1805,  of  Yarmouth,  Maine,  presi- 
dent in  Wheelock's  place.  The  latter  immediately 
wrote  the  Maine  clergyman  that  in  his  view  the 
action  of  the  trustees  was  illegal  and  void;  but  Mr. 
Brown  was  inaugurated  as  president  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  September. 

Now  ensued  a  civil  war  within  the  confines  at 
Hanover,  the  like  of  which  no  college  town  in 
America  has  ever  seen.  The  Democrats  won  the 
next  election  and,  with  Governor  Plumer  and  the 
Legislature  partisans  of  Wheelock,  it  was  easy  to 
obtain  the  enactment  of  a  bill  changing  the  name  of 
the  college  to  Dartmouth  University,  increasing 
the  number  of  trustees  to  twenty-one,  and  estab- 
lishing a  board  of  overseers  of  twenty-five,  including, 
ex  officio,  the  Governor  and  Council,  the  President 
of  the  Senate  and  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  the 
Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Vermont. 
These  boards  made  Wheelock  president  of  the 
university. 

The  trustees  of  the  college  declined  to  take  places 
in  the  new  board.  But  Judge  Woodward,  the 
secretary  and  treasurer,  went  over  to  the  enemy, 
carrying  with  him  the  Great  Seal  and  the  records  and 
the  college  property,  which  he  refused  to  surrender. 
This  seeming  misfortune  turned  out  to  be  the  real 

97 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

foundation  for  the  suit  at  law  which  proved  the 
salvation  of  the  college. 

To  add  to  the  difficulties  of  the  trustees,  the 
Legislature  passed  a  bill  of  penalties  providing  that 
any  person  assuming  to  perform  the  duties  of  presi- 
dent, trustee,  or  any  officer  of  the  college,  except  in 
conformity  to  the  acts  of  the  Legislature,  should 
forfeit  for  each  offense  five  hundred  dollars,  to  be 
recovered  by  any  person  who  should  sue  therefor, 
one  half  to  go  to  the  complainant  and  one  half  to 
the  university.  President  Brown,  with  all  his 
gentleness  and  culture,  had  plenty  of  steel  under 
his  velvet  exterior,  and  he  declined  to  be  frightened. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  action  was  ever  taken  under 
this  penal  law. 

In  the  midst  of  the  turmoil,  John  Wheelock  fell 
a  victim  to  "  a  dropsy  of  the  chest  "  and  died,  on 
April  4,  1817,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  He  had 
lived  many  years  too  long  for  the  good  of  his  fame. 
The  qualities  of  fearlessness,  energy,  and  undoubted 
devotion  to  the  college  which  did  such  excellent 
service  in  the  first  half  of  his  administration,  became 
obstinacy,  autocracy  and  almost  incredible  vanity  in 
the  last  half.  Nor  was  he  shrewd  enough  to  mitigate 
his  domineering  by  any  claims  to  partnership  with 
the  Almighty,  as  his  father  had  done.  Possibly  the 
era  was  too  late  for  the  success  of  that  sort  of  thing. 

98 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

He  lacked  culture  and  in  his  writings  was  turgid 
and  almost  illiterate.  Lord  relates  that-his  prayers 
at  chapel  were  marvels  of  grotesque  taste.  "  Having 
one  day  chanced  to  attend  to  some  experiment  in 
the  chemistry  of  gases,  he  thanked  the  Lord  in  his 
next  chapel  prayer  for  the  elements  in  detail:  *  We 
thank  thee  O  Lord  for  the  oxygen  gas;  we  thank 
thee  O  Lord  for  the  hydrogen  gas;  we  thank  thee  O 
Lord  for  the  nitrogen  gas  and  for  all  the  gases.'  At 
another  time  he  was  impressed  in  the  same  way 
by  the  wonders  of  anatomy  and  expressed  his  grati- 
tude in  like  form  '  for  the  cerebrum,  for  the  cere- 
bellum and  for  the  medulla  oblongata.'  ' 

A  composite  by  two  of  the  students  who  took  the 
trouble  to  write  of  him  afterward  furnishes  as  ac- 
curate a  picture  of  John  Wheelock  as  the  world 
of  to-day  cares  for.  Thus  Stephen  Farley,  of  the 
class  of  1804: 

It  was  his  habit  to  speak  in  a  stiff  and  affectedly  ele- 
vated style;  to  assume  some  empirical  airs  of  the  polite 
gentleman;  to  exact  attention  from  others  and  to  pay 
for  them  by  making  superfluous  bows,  and  lighting  up 
his  face  with  smiles,  while  he  gracefully  lifted  and  waved 
his  tri-cornered  beaver.  Notwithstanding  the  stilt-walk- 
ing character  of  his  style  he  acquitted  himself  well  in  his 
lectures,  which  were  always  unwritten. 

In  personal  presence  he  made  in  his  prime  a  good  ap- 
pearance. His  stature  was  of  the  average,  his  shoulders 

99 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

rather  broad,  and  he  was  very  erect.  He  had  a  light  com- 
plexion; abundant  brown  hair,  clubbed  behind,  and 
parted  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead.  His  nose  was 
large  and  aquiline;  his  eyes  bright,  and  his  eyebrows  and 
mouth  rather  uncommonly  elongated. 

He  wore  a  dun  colored  coat  as  often  as  a  black  one; 
and  always  small  clothes  and  white  stockings;  and,  when 
the  weather  required,  a  drab  double-breasted  great  coat. 
The  barber  visited  his  study  twice  a  week,  and  so  at 
prayers  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday  evenings  he  ap- 
peared all  shaven  and  shorn  with  a  sprinkling  of  powder 
on  the  crown  of  his  head. 

George  Ticknor,  1807,  gave  this  as  his  contribu- 
tion: 

Doctor  Wheelock  was  stiff  and  stately.  He  read  con- 
stantly, sat  up  late  and  got  up  early.  He  talked  very 
gravely  and  slow,  with  a  falsetto  voice.  Mr.  Webster 
could  imitate  him  perfectly.  .  .  .  He  was  one  of  the  most 
formal  men  I  ever  knew.  I  saw  a  great  deal  of  him  from 
1802  to  1816  in  his  own  house  and  myiather's,  but  never 
felt  the  smallest  degree  of  familiarity  with  him,  nor  do  I 
believe  that  any  of  the  students  did.  They  were  gener- 
ally very  awkward,  unused  to  the  ways  of  the  world. 
Many  of  them  when  they  went  to  the  President  on  their 
little  affairs  did  not  know  when  the  time  had  come  for 
them  to  get  up  and  leave  him.  He  was  very  covetous  of 
his  time,  and  when  the  business  was  settled,  and  he  had 
waited  a  little  while  he  would  say,  "  Will  you  sit  longer, 
or  will  you  go  now?  "  It  was  a  recognized  formula,  and 
no  young  man  that  I  ever  knew  of,  ever  sat  longer  after 
hearing  it. 

100 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

Perhaps  it  is  as  well  to  take  leave  of  the  second 
president  with  the  thought  that  he  was  courteous, 
at  any  rate.  Lord  says  "  he  had  pleasant  personal 
qualities  and  had  some  devoted  friends  and  sup- 
porters." In  the  life  of  Doctor  A.  Alexander  we 
find  that  "  It  was  pleasantly  said  that  he  suffered  no 
man  to  have  the  last  bow.  This,  it  was  reported,  was 
put  to  the  test  by  a  person  of  some  assurance  who 
undertook  to  compete  with  him  in  a  contest  of  polite- 
ness. He  accordingly  took  his  leave,  bowed  him- 
self out  of  the  mansion,  and  continued  to  bow  as 
long  as  he  was  upon  the  premises,  but  the  President 
followed  him  to  the  gate,  and  remained  in  possession 
of  the  field." 

When  Wheelock  passed  out  of  the  fight  for  the 
academic  control  of  Hanover,  and  William  Allen, 
of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  came  into  it  as  presi- 
dent of  Dartmouth  University  there  was  still  some- 
thing of  the  dynasty  tinge  to  the  succession,  for 
Allen  was  Wheelock's  son-in-law.  But  he  was  an 
amiable  gentleman  and  went  through  his  difficult 
role  with  as  little  offense  as  possible. 

The  two  institutions  by  the  name  of  Dartmouth 
on  Hanover  plain  proceeded  for  a  while  under  an 
understood  truce.  The  university  had  the  build- 
ings, which  they  seized  with  the  aid  of  a  couple  of 
village  "  huskies  ",  but  the  college  had  the  students, 

101 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

who  stood  loyally  by  to  the  number  of  130,  while 
their  rivals  were  so  few  that  they  were  ashamed  to 
get  out  a  catalogue.  President  Brown  hired  a  hall 
over  Stewart's  hat  store  for  use  as  a  chapel  and  for 
senior  recitations,  while  the  lower  classes  met  in 
various  student's  rooms.  But  "  we  all  followed  one 
bell  ",  wrote  Nathan  Crosby  in  his  "  First  Half 
Century  of  Dartmouth  College  ",  "  and  for  two  long 
years  a  hundred  or  more  students  were  crossing  the 
plain,  at  every  ringing  of  the  bell,  to  their  chapel 
and  various  recitation  rooms,  while  a  dozen  univer- 
sity students  were  crossing  our  paths  in  other  direc- 
tions, giving  ample  opportunity  to  crack  a  joke  and 
chaff  each  other." 

Henry  K.  Oliver  says  much  the  same  -thing: 
"  There  was,  by  a  sort  of  tacit  consent,  a  general 
harmony  between  the  several  students.  The  same 
tintinnabulum  summoned  both  parties  to  prayers, 
recitations,  and  meals,  and  they  crossed  the  same 
campus;  yet  not  without  a  muchness  of  good- 
natured  chaff  and  banter,  we  the  '  hoi  polloi ',  and 
they  the  '  few  yet  brave.'  ' 

The  first  Commencements  under  the  dual  system 
were  held  on  the  same  day,  August  27,  1817.  Each 
party  claimed  the  church  for  its  exercises.  The 
pewholders  disagreed.  General  Poole,  Colonel 
Brewster,  and  Colonel  Perkins,  of  the  university 

102 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

persuasion,  swore  they  would  call  out  the  militia  to 
support  President  Allen,  whereupon  a  party  of 
sixty  college  students  took  possession  of  the  sacred 
edifice  by  night  and  held  it  for  three  days,  armed 
with  canes  and  clubs  and  provided  with  stones  to 
hurl  from  the  belfry  upon  the  heads  of  university 
invaders.  President  Brown  offered  to  compromise 
by  giving  the  university  the  auditorium  after  one 
o'clock  on  Commencement  day,  but  President  Allen 
refused  to  yield  precedence  and  held  the  Com- 
mencement in  the  chapel  in  the  college  yard,  grad- 
uating eight  men  to  the  college's  thirty-nine. 

Manifestly  it  was  impossible  for  two  sets  of 
college  boys,  lively  young  Americans  of  that  rather 
"  cocky"  period  after  the  war  of  1812,  to  get  on 
in  such  strange  fashion  without  at  least  one  serious 
clash.  The  wonder  is  that  riot  was  not  frequent, 
instead  of  nearly  unknown.  The  one  example  was 
sufficiently  exhilarating. 

The  university  people  had  early  seized  the  college 
library,  amounting  to  about  four  thousand  volumes, 
and  the  student  societies,  the  United  Fraternity  and 
the  Social  Friends,  feared  that  their  books  would 
likewise  be  carried  off.  Each  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee of  Safety.  Rufus  Choate,  then  librarian  of 
the  Socials,  hired  a  room  in  Professor  Adams'  house, 
where  he  lived,  and  under  cover  of  darkness  super- 

103 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

axe,  and  declaring  that  no  Social  could  remove  a 
single  book  and  live  to  tell  the  tale.  But  no  blood 
was  spilt,  for  the  university  crowd,  finding  itself 
overwhelmingly  outnumbered,  surrendered  grace- 
fully and  submitted  to  imprisonment  in  an  adjacent 
room  until  the  society  adherents  had  removed  all 
their  books.  President  Allen  had  nine  of  the  college 
boys  arrested  for  riot,  among  them  "  R.  Choate." 
They  retaliated  by  swearing  out  warrants  against 
Professors  Dean  and  Carter  and  some  others  of  the 
university  raiders.  No  one  was  indicted,  and  the 
excitement  died  out  almost  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
arisen. 

All  this  time  the  great  "  Case  "  had  been  steadily 
in  the  making,  and  with  a  trend  adverse  to  the 
college.  Helped  incalculably  by  the  gift  of  one 
thousand  dollars  from  John  B.  Wheeler,  of  Orford, 
New  Hampshire,  without  whose  money  the  fight 
would  not  have  been  made,1  the  trustees  brought 
suit  of  trover  against  Treasurer  Woodward  to  recover 
the  seal,  the  charter,  the  records,  and  the  accounts, 

1  In  November,  1817,  President  Brown  appealed  to  Harvard  for 
financial  aid  in  a  cause  common  to  all  the  chartered  colleges.  President 
Kirkland  replied  that  he  was  in  full  sympathy  with  Dartmouth,  but 
that  Harvard  had  no  funds  for  the  purpose  of  helping  the  legal  battle, 
adding  also  that  his  friends  and  advisers  feared  that  the  college  would 
be  beaten  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  which  would  make  the 
situation  of  Harvard  and  the  other  colleges  precarious.  Dartmouth 
fought  out  the  cause  of  the  rest  single-handed. 

106 


Wheeler  Hall 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

which  he  had  carried  over  to  the  university,  all  to 
the  alleged  value  of  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

The  first  argument  of  the  case  was  made  at 
Haverhill  in  the  spring  of  1817.  Those  intellectual 
giants,  Jeremiah  Mason  and  Jeremiah  Smith,  ap- 
peared for  the  college,  while  George  Sullivan  and 
Ichabod  Bartlett,  both  keen  and  able  pleaders,  were 
for  the  university.  The  case  was  continued  to  the 
September  sitting  at  Exeter,  and  there  Webster 
joined  the  others,  making  the  closing  plea  for  the 
college.  The  counsel  on  this  side  argued  that  the 
acts  of  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire  were  not 
obligating: 

1.  Because  they  are  not  within  the  general  scope 
of  legislative  power. 

2.  Because  they  violate  certain  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  of  this  State,  restraining  the  legislative 
power. 

3.  Because  they  violate  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

To  these  claims  Sullivan  and  Bartlett  replied  that 
the  college,  being  a  public  corporation,  was  intended 
for  the  benefit  of  the  public  and  of  those  composing 
it,  and  that  while  the  contention  of  the  plaintiffs 
might  apply  to  Moor's  Charity  School,  it  did  not 
apply  to  Dartmouth  College,  and  that  the  grant  did 
not  come  within  the  meaning  of  the  "  obligation  '* 

107 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

clause  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  court,  in  spite  of  the  statement  that  it  was  left 
in  tears  by  Webster's  eloquence,  decided  in  favor 
of  the  university.  Webster  had  expected  this.  "  It 
would  be  queer ",  he  had  said,  "  if  Governor 
Plumer's  court  did  not  sustain  his  own  law." 

The  "  Case  "  next  moved  on  to  Washington.  By 
agreement  of  both  sides,  the  New  Hampshire  court 
rendered  a  special  verdict  carrying  it  directly  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  on  the  sole  point  that  the  Legis- 
lature had  violated  the  Constitution  by  "  impairing 
the  obligations  of  contracts."  The  matter  came  up 
for  argument  on  March  10,  1815.  Mason  and 
Smith  did  not  appear,  but  Webster  was  aided  by 
Joseph  Hopkinson,  of  Philadelphia,  now  best  known 
to  fame  as  the  author  of  Hail  Columbia,  but  a  great 
jurist  in  his  day. 

The  university  was  clearly  outclassed,  with  John 
Holmes,  a  Maine  lawyer  of  political  proclivities, 
and  William  Wirt,  the  amiable  builder  of  florid 
word-pictures,  who  was  then  attorney-general  of  the 
United  States,  pitted  against  "  Black  Dan."  Yet 
the  latter's  task  was  herculean,  and  he  knew  it. 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  and  one  associate  were  be- 
lieved favorable  to  the  college;  two  others  were 
known  to  be  hostile.  The  other  three  were  unde- 
cided in  their  views;  two  of  them  must  be  won,  and 

108 


THE   GREAT   " CASE  " 

Mr.  Webster  set  all  of  his  mighty  powers  to  winning 
them. 

Of  that  historic  scene  in  the  old  Supreme  Court 
room  in  the  Senate  wing  of  the  basement  of  the 
Capitol,  Chauncey  A.  Goodrich,  professor  of  oratory 
at  Yale,  who  went  to  Washington  for  the  express 
purpose  of  hearing  Webster,  has  left  the  best  de- 
scription in  a  letter  sent  afterward  to  Rufus  Choate. 
Thus  he  wrote: 

Mr.  Webster  entered  upon  his  argument  in  the  calm 
tone  of  easy  and  dignified  conversation.  His  matter  was 
so  completely  at  his  command  that  he  scarcely  looked 
at  his  brief,  but  went  on  for  more  than  four  hours  with  a 
statement  so  luminous,  and  a  chain  of  reasoning  so  easy 
to  be  understood,  and  yet  approaching  so  nearly  to  abso- 
lute demonstration,  that  he  seemed  to  carry  with  him 
every  man  of  his  audience,  without  the  slightest  effort 
or  uneasiness  on  either  side.  It  was  hardly  eloquence, 
in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term:  it  was  pure  reason.  Now 
and  then  for  a  sentence  or  two  his  eye  flashed  and  his 
voice  swelled  into  a  bolder  note,  as  he  uttered  some  em- 
phatic thought,  but  he  instantly  fell  back  into  the  tone 
of  earnest  conversation,  which  ran  throughout  the  great 
body  of  his  speech.  A  single  circumstance  will  show 
the  clearness  and  absorbing  power  of  his  argument.  I 
observed  Judge  Story  sit,  pen  in  hand,  as  if  to  take  notes. 
Hour  after  hour  I  saw  him  fixed  in  the  same  attitude; 
but  I  could  not  discover  that  he  made  a  single  note.  The 
argument  ended,  Mr.  Webster  stood  for  some  moments 
silent  before  the  court,  while  every  eye  was  fixed  intently 

109 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

upon  him.  At  length,  addressing  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
he  said,  — 

"  This,  sir,  is  my  case.  It  is  the  case,  not  merely  of 
that  humble  institution,  it  is  the  case  of  every  college  in 
our  land.  It  is  more.  It  is  the  case  of  every  eleemosy- 
nary institution  throughout  our  country,  of  all  those 
great  charities  founded  by  the  piety  of  our  ancestors  to 
alleviate  human  misery,  and  scatter  blessings  along  the 
pathway  of  human  life.  It  is  more.  It  is,  in  some  sense, 
the  case  of  every  man  who  has  property  of  which  he  may 
be  stripped,  —  for  the  question  is  simply  this:  Shall  our 
State  legislatures  be  allowed  to  take  that  which  is  not 
their  own,  to  turn  it  from  its  original  use,  and  apply  it  to 
such  ends  or  purposes  as  they,  in  their  discretion,  shall 
see  fit?  Sir,  you  may  destroy  this  little  institution;  it 
is  weak;  it  is  in  your  hands!  I  know  it  is  one  of  the  lesser 
lights  in  the  literary  horizon  of  our  country.  You  may 
put  it  out;  but  if  you  do,  you  must  carry  through  your 
work!  You  must  extinguish,  one  after  another,  all  those 
great  lights  of  science  which,  for  more  than  a  century, 
have  thrown  their  radiance  over  the  land!  It  is,  sir,  as 
I  have  said,  a  small  college,  and  yet  there  are  those  that 
love  it  —  " 

Here  the  feelings  which  he  had  thus  far  succeeded  in 
keeping  down,  broke  forth.  His  lips  quivered;  his  firm 
cheeks  trembled  with  emotion;  his  eyes  were  filled  with 
tears;  his  voice  choked,  and  he  seemed  struggling  to  the 
utmost,  simply  to  gain  the  mastery  over  himself  which 
might  save  him  from  an  unmanly  burst  of  feeling.  I  will 
not  attempt  to  give  you  the  few  broken  words  of  tender- 
ness in  which  he  went  on  to  speak  of  his  attachment  to 
the  College.  The  whole  seemed  to  be  mingled  with  the 
recollections  of  father,  mother,  brother,  and  all  the 

110 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

privations  through  which  he  had  made  his  way  into  life. 
Every  one  saw  that  it  was  wholly  unpremeditated,  —  a 
pressure  on  his  heart  which  sought  relief  in  words  and 
tears. 

The  court-room  during  these  two  or  three  minutes  pre- 
sented an  extraordinary  spectacle.  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
with  his  tall,  gaunt  figure  bent  over  as  if  to  catch  the 
slightest  whisper,  the  deep  furrows  of  his  cheek  expanded 
with  emotion,  and  eyes  suffused  with  tears;  Mr.  Justice 
Washington  at  hi's  side,  with  his  small  and  emaciated 
frame,  and  countenance  more  like  marble  than  I  ever 
saw  on  any  other  human  being,  leaning  forward  with  an 
eager,  troubled  look;  and  the  remainder  of  the  court  at 
the  two  extremities,  pressing,  as  it  were,  toward  a  single 
point,  while  the  audience  below  were  wrapping  themselves 
round  in  closer  folds  beneath  the  bench  to.  catch  each 
look,  and  every  movement  of  the  speaker's  face.  .  .  . 
There  was  not  one  among  the  strong-minded  men  of  that 
assembly  who  could  think  it  unmanly  to  weep,  when  he 
saw  standing  before  him  the  man  who  had  made  such  an 
argument  melted  into  the  tenderness  of  a  child. 

Mr.  Webster,  having  recovered  his  composure  and 
fixed  his  keen  eye  upon  the  Chief  Justice,  said,  in  that 
deep  tone  with  which  he  sometimes  thrilled  the  heart  of 
an  audience,  — 

"  Sir,  I  know  not  how  others  may  feel  "  (glancing  at 
the  opponents  of  the  College  before  him,  some  of  whom 
were  its  graduates),  "  but,  for  myself,  when  I  see  my  alma 
mater  surrounded,  like  Caesar  in  the  senate  house,  by 
those  who  are  reiterating  stab  upon  stab,  I  would  not, 
for  this  right  hand,  have  her  turn  to  me  and  say,  Et  tu 
quoque,  mi  fili!  —  And  thou  too,  my  son!  " 

He  sat  down;  there  was  a  deathlike  stillness  through- 
Ill 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

out  the  room  for  some  moments;  every  one  seemed  to  be 
slowly  recovering  himself  and  coming  gradually  back  to 
his  ordinary  range  of  thought  and  feeling. 

After  this  tremendous  emotional  appeal,  backed 
by  the  keenest  legal  knowledge  of  the  subject,  the 
arguments  of  Holmes  for  the  university  fell  flat. 
He  stumbled  into  bad  errors  of  judgment  and  showed 
ignorance  of  the  case.  Webster  was  human  enough 
to  gloat.  "  I  had  a  malicious  joy,"  he  wrote  to 
Judge  Smith,  "  in  seeing  Judge  Bell  sit  by  to  hear 
him,  while  everybody  was  grinning  at  the  folly  he 
uttered.  Bell  could  not  stand  it.  He  seized  his  hat 
and  went  off." 

Wirt  ruined  whatever  effect  he  might  have  pro- 
duced by  the  idiotic  admission  that  he  "  had  not 
had  time  to  study  the  case  and  had  hardly  thought  of 
it  till  it  was  called  on."  Hopkinson  is  said  to  have 
made  "  a  calm  and  able  "  closing  for  the  college. 
But  it  was  the  master  mind  and  organ  tones  of 
Webster  that  ruled  the  court  alone  and  won  the 
decision  for  Dartmouth  College  and  so  many  other 
American  colleges. 

This  case,  stubbornly  fought  to  its  victorious  end 
by  the  poor  and  small  institution  at  Hanover, 
fought  when  compromise  would  have  been  easy 
and  pleasant,  has  been  more  often  cited  in  our  courts 


THE   GREAT   "CASE" 

than  any  other.  According  to  Chancellor  Kent: 
"  The  decision  in  that  case  did  more  than  any  other 
single  act  proceeding  from  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  to  throw  an  impregnable  barrier 
around  all  rights  and  franchises  derived  from  the 
grant  of  government;  and  to  give  solidity  and  in- 
violability to  the  literary,  charitable,  religious,  and 
commercial  institutions  of  our  country." 

In  the  opinion  of  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  the  decision 
was  "  in  its  effects  more  far-reaching  and  of  more 
general  interest  than  perhaps  any  other  ever  made 
in  this  country." 

The  verdict  of  the  tribunal  at  Washington  was 
announced  on  February  2,  1818.  Only  one  justice, 
Duvall,  dissented.  It  took  a  week  for  the  news  to 
reach  Hanover.  Then  "  the  expressions  of  joy  were 
excessive."  Cannon  boomed  for  two  days,  and  it 
is  hinted  by  the  local  chroniclers  that  the  celebration 
was  more  spirituous  than  spiritual.  The  college 
men  seized  all  the  buildings,  and  at  the  beginning 
of  the  spring  term,  President  Allen  announced  that 
there  would  be  no  more  instruction  in  the  univer- 
sity. He  had  received  shabby  treatment  by  the 
Legislature  in  return  for  his  loyal  service.  His 
salary  was  supposed  to  be  twelve  hundred  dollars 
a  year,  but  he  was  paid  only  $983  for  his  two  years' 
work,  and  the  very  body  that  had  set  him  up  in 

113 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

the  university  refused  to  do  anything  more  for  him. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  guess  what  would  have  hap- 
pened to  Dartmouth  had  Daniel  Webster  failed  her 
at  Washington. 

When  the  decision  that  killed  the  university  and 
left  it  unwept,  save  by  a  lot  of  New  Hampshire 
politicians,  was  made  public  at  Washington,  Judge 
Hopkinson  wrote  to  President  Brown:  'The 
court  goes  all  lengths  with  us,  and  whatever  trouble 
the  gentlemen  may  give  us  in  future,  they  cannot 
shake  those  principles  which  must  and  will  restore 
Dartmouth  College  to  its  true  and  original  owners. 
I  would  have  an  inscription  over  the  door  of  your 
building,  -  '  Founded  by  Eleazar  Wheelock,  Re- 
founded  by  Daniel  Webster*  ' 

At  the  portals  of  Webster  Hall,  the  dignified  and 
handsome  memorial  built  by  the  alumni  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  campus,  the  words  sug- 
gested by  Hopkinson  are  written  in  enduring  bronze. 


114 


'  .        '-•-.  -" 


Webster  Hall 


CHAPTER  VII 

DANA    AND    TYLER 

WHEN  the  great  "  Case  "  had  ended,  Dart- 
mouth College  was  Dartmouth  College  still, 
but  it  was  like  an  exhausted  army,  victorious,  yet 
shot  almost  to  pieces.  It  had  its  property  again; 
the  Great  Seal  had  been  dragged  out  from  the  grain 
bin,  where  the  widow  of  Treasurer  Woodward  had 
hidden  it  against  theft  or  mutilation,  and  restored 
to  its  owners;  a  jubilee  had  been  made  of  the 
Commencement  of  1819,  with  Webster  an  idolized 
figure,  and  the  eminent  counsel  formally  thanked 
by  the  trustees  and  asked  to  sit  for  their  portraits. 
There  was,  of  course,  much  cause  for  rejoicing. 

But  clouds  of  anxiety  and  even  distress  hung 
over  the  institution.  The  university  faction  of  the 
press  was  bitter  in  its  defeat.  Isaac  Hill  declared 
in  the  New  Hampshire  Register  that  "  by  this  de- 
cision it  is  to  be  understood  that  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  as  a  State  have  no  longer  an  interest  in 
Dartmouth  College."  A  movement  to  establish  a 
rival  "  public  literary  Institution  "  on  the  part  of 
the  State  actually  made  some  headway  in  the 

115 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

Legislature,  and  a  little  later  a  "  Literary  Fund  " 
was  voted,  to  be  raised  by  a  stamp  tax  on  bank 
circulation,  for  the  future  endowment  of  a  univer- 
sity. 

Some  of  the  college  people  in  the  Legislature, 
thinking  that  they  might  divert  this  financial  aid 
to  Dartmouth  by  agreeing  to  the  creation  of  a  State 
board  of  overseers  "  somewhat  on  the  footing  of 
Cambridge ",  consulted  Webster  on  the  matter. 
He  was  thoroughly  against  it. 

"  I  wish,"  he  wrote,  "  I  had  more  hope  of  good 
than  I  have  to  the  College  from  the  Legislature.  Of 
course  you  know  best  the  feeling  on  such  subjects 
at  present  existing,  but  for  myself  I  do  not  believe 
the  College  could  get  a  dollar  from  the  Gen. 
Court." 

Lack  of  money  was  again  the  besetting  peril  to 
the  college.  During  the  fight  with  New  Hampshire 
it  had  lost  its  student  rental  for  rooms  and  its  in- 
come from  lands.  The  expenses  of  the  suit  were 
about  six  thousand  dollars,  and  to  add  to  the 
trouble  the  heirs  of  President  John  Wheelock 
brought  suit  for  the  collection  of  $7,886  unpaid 
salary  and  ten  thousand  dollars  for  "  the  work, 
labor,  care,  and  diligence  "  of  the  son  of  his  father 
as  head  of  the  college.  A  settlement  was  finally 
made  for  $8,385,  which  kept  the  institution  in  debt 

116 


DANA  AND   TYLER 

for  years.  Besides,  it  owed  its  own  officers  nearly 
•five  thousand  dollars  in  unpaid  salaries.  The  trus- 
tees tried  to  get  indemnity  from  the  Legislature  for 
their  losses  incurred  by  the  university  fiasco;  it 
can  readily  be  imagined  that  their  plea  was  ex- 
tinguished with  ribald  laughter  in  that  still  unre- 
generate  body. 

A  very  real  disaster  following  close  upon  the  heels 
of  these  troubles  was  the  death,  on  July  27,  1820, 
of  President  Brown.  He  had  literally  worn  himself 
out  in  the  struggle,  and  he  paid  the  penalty  of  his 
devotion  at  thirty-six.  His  brief,  but  terribly  diffi- 
cult administration  shows  him  to  have  been  a  rare 
soul.  "  In  person  ",  says  Lord,  "  he  was  unusually 
dignified  and  commanding,  yet  natural  and  graceful 
in  carriage.  His  large,  full  hazel  eye,  and  genial, 
beaming  face  invited  confidence,  but  his  expression 
was  so  penetrating  and  sagacious  as  to  forbid  de- 
ception, and  repel  familiarity.  When  the  occasion 
required  he  could  be  terribly  severe,  but  this  severity 
had  nothing  of  personal  anger  in  it.  To  govern 
young  men  was  natural  and  easy  to  him.  He  rarely 
used  the  language  of  command.  A  wish  or  re- 
quest expressed  in  the  mildest  form  was  with  the 
students  equivalent  to  a  command,  and  was  promptly 
regarded.  He  was  both  honored  and  loved.  The 
discipline  of  the  College  was  never  more  perfect  than 

117 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

during  the  years  when  the  laws  of  the  College  were 
stript  of  authority,  when  the  students  were  under 
the  ban  of  the  legislature  and  when  each  student 
knew  that  his  course  might  end  without  academic 
honors.  The  main  influence  in  holding  the  College 
together  was  the  personality  of  the  President." 

President  Brown's  successor  was  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Daniel  Dana,  of  Newburyport,  Massachu- 
setts; a  successful  preacher  and  a  man  of  evident 
common  sense,  which  he  reluctantly  allowed  to  be 
overruled  by  his  Presbytery,  to  which  was  referred 
the  pressing  call  of  the  Dartmouth  trustees.  He  has 
the  historic  distinction  of  one  of  the  briefest  ad- 
ministrations on  record  among  the  colleges.  In- 
augurated on  October  3,  1820,  he  resigned  within 
six  months,  a  prey  to  melancholia.  His  letter  to 
the  trustees  declaring  his  withdrawal  reveals  a  man 
who  knew  what  a  college  president  should  be,  even 
if  he  could  not  himself  be  one.  "  The  College  needs 
a  President ",  he  wrote,  "  not  only  of  powerful 
talents,  but  of  strong  nerves  and  vigorous  health; 
one  who  can  enterprise  much  and  accomplish  much; 
one  whom  labors  cannot  easily  exhaust  nor  difficul- 
ties embarrass,  nor  trials  depress.  In  reference  to 
all  these  particulars  I  have  a  painful  consciousness, 
I  will  not  say  of  deficiency,  but  of  contrast" 

Then  followed  Reverend  Bennett  Tyler,  a  parson 
118 


DANA  AND  TYLER 

of  South  Britain,  Connecticut,  and  a  Yale  man  of 
1804.  He,  too,  hesitated  over  the  offer,  preferring 
the  life  of  a  country  clergyman.  He,  too,  was  per- 
suaded by  a  religious  body,  the  Congregational  As- 
sociation, that  it  was  his  duty  to  go  to  Hanover. 
His  inauguration,  March  27,  1822,  was  well  attended. 
He  delivered  an  address  which  was  set  down  by  the 
chronicler  of  the  event  as  "  sound,  luminous  and 
elegant  ",  and  as  a  fitting  accompaniment  to  such 
luminosity,  all  the  college  buildings  and  dwelling- 
houses  were  brilliantly  lighted  that  evening. 

President  Tyler's  first  days  in  office  were  accom- 
panied by  the  issuing  of  a  new  code  of  college  laws, 
which,  printed  and  distributed,  was  known  as  the 
"  Freshman  Bible."  Even  as  late  as  1822,  life  was 
still  Spartan  at  Hanover.  Professor  Alpheus  Crosby, 
in  his  "  Memorial  of  College  Life  ",  relates  that  the 
hours  of  study,  preceded  by  one  recitation,  prayers, 
and  breakfast,  began  at  eight  o'clock  in  summer, 
and  at  other  seasons  at  nine,  and  continued  till 
eleven.  Beginning  again  at  two,  they  held  till 
evening  prayers,  except  Saturday  afternoon.  Morn- 
ing prayers  consisted  of  invocation  and  reading 
from  the  Bible;  and  prayers  came  daily  at  five 
o'clock,  or,  there  being  no  provision  for  artificial 
light  in  either  chapel  or  recitation-rooms,  as  early 
as  the  president  could  well  see  to  read  in  the  Bible. 

119 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

On  Sunday  the  students  were  required  to  attend 
morning  and  evening  prayers  in  the  chapel  and  two 
services  in  the  college  church.  Students  were  re- 
quired to  be  in  their  rooms  during  study  hours  and 
after  nine  P.  M.  and  "  to  abstain  from  all  loud  con- 
versation, singing,  playing  on  musical  instruments, 
and  from  all  other  noise  which  may  tend  to  inter- 
rupt ",  and  on  the  Sabbath  every  student  was  "  to 
remain  in  his  chamber  unless  the  duties  of  public 
worship  or  acts  of  necessity  or  mercy  "  called  him 
elsewhere,  and  no  one  was  to  attend  to  any  secular 
business  or  diversion,  or  unnecessarily  walk  in  the 
fields  or  streets. 

Keeping  or  playing  with  cards  or  dice  was  pun- 
ishable with  a  fine  of  five  dollars,  and  persistence  in 
either  by  rustication.  Under  similar  penalties 
students  were  forbidden  to  be  present  at  a  "  treat  " 
or  entertainment  in  which  spirituous  or  fermented 
liquors  were  used.  The  faculty  was  "  particularly 
and  earnestly  recommended  to  inform  themselves 
concerning  each  one's  moral  and  literary  charac- 
ter ",  and  to  this  end  was  directed  to  make  weekly 
visits  to  the  room  of  each  student. 

At  this  period  it  cost  the  Dartmouth  student 
about  one  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  his  college  life. 
Tuition  was  fixed  at  twenty-six  dollars,  room  rent 
averaged  six  dollars,  and  decent  board  could  be  had 

120 


DANA  AND   TYLER 

for  one  dollar  a  week;  the  man  who  paid  one  dollar 
and  seventy-five  cents  was  regarded  as  rather  Lu- 
cullan in  his  tastes.  To  these  expenditures  were 
added,  according  to  the  individual's  moral  lapses, 
the  money  collected  by  the  faculty  in  the  shape  of 
fines  for  infraction  of  the  college  laws.  This  species 
of  taxation  was  no  less  silly  and  futile  than  in  other 
American  colleges  of  the  day,  but  no  more  so. 

Early  in  the  Tyler  regime,  the  requirements  for 
admission  were  stiffened  somewhat.  It  was  now 
necessary  that  a  prospective  freshman  be  "  well 
versed  in  the  Grammar  of  the  English,  Latin  and 
Greek  Languages,  in  Virgil,  Cicero's  Select  Orations, 
Sallust,  the  Greek  Testament,  Dalzel's  Collectanea 
Graeca  Minora,  Latin  and  Greek  Prosody,  Arith- 
metic, ancient  and  modern  Geography,  and  that 
he  be  able  accurately  to  translate  English  into 
Latin." 

The  college  year  was  of  thirty-seven  and  a  half 
weeks,  with  three  vacations.  The  seniors  were 
given  a  special  vacation  of  five  weeks  after  the 
final  "  exams  ",  this  "  to  allow  the  members  to  go 
home,  get  their  new  clothes  (often  homespun)  and 
make  other  preparations."  Their  year  of  study  was 
taken  up  with  Locke,  Edwards  on  the  Will,  Butler's 
Analogy,  Stewart's  "  Philosophy  ",  "  Evidences  of 
Christianity  ",  and  "  Law  and  the  Federalist  "  -  a 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

sufficiently  solemn  preparation  for  the  beginning  of 
the  duties  of  life. 

In  this  era  the  faculty,  which  for  a  number  of 
years  had  comprised  only  the  president,  Professors 
Adams  and  Shurtleff,  and  a  brace  of  tutors,  was 
much  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  William 
Chamberlain  as  professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  lan- 
guages; Charles  B.  Haddock,  a  nephew  of  Daniel 
Webster,  as  professor  of  rhetoric  and  oratory,  and 
Doctor  Daniel  Oliver  as  professor  of  intellectual 
and  moral  philosophy.  These  were  strong  men, 
Haddock  in  particular,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
esteemed  instructors  of  his  time,  and  the  first  pro- 
fessor of  rhetoric  in  America.  The  fact  that  he  was 
eternally  in  debt  did  not  militate  against  his  popu- 
larity. It  is  related  that  one  irate  creditor  came  to 
Hanover  determined  to  get  his  money  from  the 
professor  or  proceed  to  the  law.  He  was  royally 
entertained  in  Haddock's  courtly  way,  and  before 
he  left  his  debtor's  residence,  he  had  loaned  the 
reverend  gentleman  another  goodly  sum. 

Innovations  came  thick  and  fast,  as  President 
Tyler's  administration  waxed.  The  annual  cata- 
logue, long  a  mere  hand-bill  published  by  each 
sophomore  class  and  bearing  only  the  names  of  the 
students,  became  an  octavo  pamphlet  of  fifteen 
pages,  containing  the  regulations  for  admission,  the 

122 


DANA  AND   TYLER 

curriculum,  and  the  estimate  of  students'  expenses, 
though  it  was  not  published  by  the  college  until 
1836. 

Another  change,  which  must  have  seemed  mo- 
mentous in  those  days,  was  the  bricking  up  of  all 
the  ancient  fireplaces  in  the  students'  rooms  of 
Dartmouth  Hall,  and  the  installing  of  those  new- 
fangled heaters  called  stoves.  Still  another  was  the 
abandoning  of  the  scheme  of  compelling  the  stu- 
dents to  fit  up  their  rooms  for  the  holding  of  reci- 
tations. These  equipments  were  primitive  and  not 
expensive,  but  the  undergraduates  rightly  believed 
that  the  college  ought  at  least  to  pay  for  its  class- 
room furnishings.  These  were  usually  a  plain  table 
and  chair  for  the  instructor,  a  small  blackboard  in 
one  corner,  a  stove,  and  on  either  side  of  the  room 
a  double  row  of  long,  unpainted,  pine  benches, 
hacked  and  battered  with  rough  usage.  Crosby 
relates  that  his  initial  recitation  as  a  freshman  was 
prepared  at  a  table  made  by  piling  one  trunk  on 
another,  and  by  a  light  struck  from  flint  and  steel. 
The  college  now  took  over  a  few  rooms  for  regular 
class-rooms  and  paid  for  their  fittings,  which  event 
was  duly  celebrated  by  appreciative  verse  in  one  of 
the  New  Hampshire  newspapers. 

In  1825  the  college  uniform  epidemic  reached 
Hanover  and  laid  vigorous  hold  on  the  students. 

123 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

Yale  had  adopted  academic  regalia  five  years  before, 
and  Union  soon  after.  So  on  March  15,  1825,  the 
Dartmouth  men  voted  to  adorn  themselves  after 
the  reigning  fashion.  Their  dress  was  a  single- 
breasted  black  frock  coat  with  rolling  collar,  having 
on  the  left  breast  a  sprigged  diamond  three  and  a 
half  inches  long  and  three  inches  wide;  and  on  the 
left  sleeve  half  a  sprigged  diamond  for  freshmen, 
two  halves  placed  one  above  the  other  for  sopho- 
mores, three  for  juniors  and  four  for  seniors;  with 
black  or  white  pantaloons,  stockings,  vest,  and 
cravats.  This  outfit,  which  seems  to  have  been 
tasteful  enough,  met  with  general  favor,  but  soon 
palled  and  "  survived  no  longer  than  the  first  suit 
lasted." 

A  reform  more  enduringly  appreciated  was  the 
ukase  that  the  first  bell  for  chapel  should  never  be 
rung  earlier  than  five  o'clock  in  the  morning!  This 
was  regarded  as  considerable  of  a  concession  to 
laziness,  but  even  its  clemency  was  often  irksome. 

"  It  was,  indeed,  barbarous,"  says  Lord,  "  and 
the  occasion,  no  doubt,  of  much  injury  to  health 
in  the  more  inclement  seasons.  It  gave  occasion 
likewise  for  many  laughable  incidents.  Attendance 
was  expected  at  prayers,  even  though,  as  sometimes 
happened  for  certain  classes,  no  recitation  followed. 
It  was  not  unusual  in  such  cases,  and  in  summer 


DANA   AND   TYLER 

weather,  for  students  to  rise  from  bed  at  the  last 
moment  and,  without  giving  themselves  the  trouble 
to  dress,  to  attend  to  their  places,  wrapped  from 
shoulder  to  feet  in  the  long  wide  cloak  then  in 
fashion,  ready  to  return  to  bed  till  breakfast.  There 
is  an  authentic  record  of  one  who  suffered  the  mis- 
fortune, when  thus  habited,  of  becoming  involved 
in  a  rush,  and  being  pitched  headlong  down  the 
chapel  steps  and  out  of  his  cloak." 

The  democracy  of  Dartmouth,  which  has  been 
traditional  and  is  still  sound,  received  its  first  vital 
test  in  Tyler's  administration.  It  was  not  a  ques- 
tion of  poverty  versus  wealth,  for  none,  or  very  few, 
were  wealthy,  but  a  problem  of  the  inclusion  of  white 
skins  and  black  in  the  same  college.  In  the  settle- 
ment of  it,  the  students  showed  themselves  more 
liberal  than  the  trustees. 

The  incident  arose  over  the  application  of  Edward 
Mitchell,  a  young  man  of  African  blood  from  the 
island  of  Martinique,  for  admission  to  the  freshman 
class  in  1824.  He  passed  his  examinations,  but  the 
trustees  declined  to  admit  him  on  the  ground  that 
the  students  might  find  him  objectionable.  Where- 
upon the  undergraduates  held  a  mass-meeting,  voted 
that  Mitchell  ought  to  be  admitted,  and  appointed 
a  committee  to  lay  their  decision  before  the  govern- 
ing body.  The  spokesman,  C.  D.  Cleveland,  1827, 

125 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

had  an  unusually  dark  skin,  and  he  argued  that  if  a 
man's  color  were  to  keep  him  out  of  college,  he  him- 
self had  no  business  there.  The  trustees  quickly 
reversed  their  decision,  and  Mitchell  became  a 
popular  member  of  the  class  of  1828,  graduating 
with  credit.  From  that  day  to  this,  no  man  has 
ever  been  denied  entrance  to  Dartmouth,  or,  once 
inside,  has  been  less  respected,  if  worthy  of  respect, 
because  of  his  complexion  or  his  race. 

After  six  years  of  faithful  and  honorable,  if  not 
brilliant  service,  President  Tyler  resigned.  He  had 
never  really  loved  his  work;  the  call  of  the  pulpit 
and  pastorate  was  ever  strong  within  him.  When 
he  was  invited  to  the  Second  Congregational  Church 
at  Portland,  Maine,  in  May,  1828,  the  desire  to  be 
once  more  a  shepherd  of  souls  exclusively  was  over- 
mastering. In  August,  1828,  he  left  the  presidency, 
carrying  with  him  the  respect  and  liking  of  students 
and  townspeople  for  his  deep  sincerity,  his  ready 
sympathy,  and  his  accurate  conception  of  justice. 
He  was  not  a  strong  personality,  and  it  appears  that 
the  trustees  of  his  day  ruled  rather  rigorously.  But 
results  count,  and  his  administration  was  one  of 
steady  advance  and  increasing  common  sense. 

President  Tyler  was  succeeded  by  Nathan  Lord, 
a  minister  at  Amherst,  New  Hampshire,  and  a 
Bowdoin  man  of  the  class  of  1809. 

126 


CHAPTER  VIII 

NATHAN    LORD    AND    HIS    "  YOUNG    GENTLEMEN  " 

WITH  the  coming  of  Nathan  Lord  to  the  presi- 
dency of  Dartmouth,  there  was  established 
the  physical  tie  that  binds  the  college  of  1828  to 
the  college  of  to-day.  Many  of  the  alumni  are  still 
living  who  sat  beneath  the  mild  gleam  of  his  green 
spectacles,  who  listened  to  his  pungent  remarks  on 
student  disorder,  who  faced  his  rapier  cross-ques- 
tioning in  the  pleasant  study  whither  they  had  been 
summoned  for  mental  and  moral  delinquencies. 
In  his  long  reign  of  thirty-five  years,  he  so  impressed 
upon  his  "  young  gentlemen  "  -  he  always  called 
them  that,  at  least  —  his  force  of  character,  his 
initiative,  his  self-reliance,  his  democratic  ideas, 
that  it  is  truly  said  of  him  that  "  probably  the  dis- 
tinguishing marks  of  the  Dartmouth  type  of  man 
were  received  from  him  more  than  from  any  other 
source." 

When  this  rural  teacher  began  his  work  at  Han- 
over, he  was  the  youngest  college  president  in  the 
country,  and  the  youngest  man,  save  one,  who  had 
ever  been  elected  as  head  of  an  American  college. 

127 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

But  at  thirty-six  he  had  already  given  signs  of 
strength.  He  had  been  a  trustee  of  Dartmouth  for 
two  years,  and  an  aggressive  and  influential  one. 
He  knew  what  was  to  be  done,  and  he  had  perfect 
confidence  that  he  knew  how  to  do  it.  He  plunged 
into  his  labors  with  enthusiasm  and  vigor,  backed  by 
a  harmonious  board  of  trustees  and  the  good-will  of 
the  alumni  in  general. 

There  was  plenty  for  the  young  president  to  begin 
upon.  The  college  was  in  its  chronic  poverty-stricken 
condition,  although  there  was  a  little  sunlight 
through  the  clouds  in  the  form  of  a  partly  com- 
pleted subscription  begun  under  President  Tyler, 
by  which,  at  a  meeting  of  Dartmouth  men  held  in 
the  Exchange  Coffee  House  at  Boston,  about 
six  thousand  dollars  had  been  raised.  Thus  early 
the  Boston  alumni  showed  that  splendid  devotion 
to  their  college  that  has  marked  them  ever  since, 
and  has  made  the  capital  of  Massachusetts  the 
capital  also  of  Dartmouth  loyalty  and  endeavor  in 
the  eyes  of  the  sons  of  the  institution. 

President  Lord,  having  been  given  the  by  no 
means  honorary  office  of  financial  agent  of  the  trus- 
tees, set  himself  on  the  money  trail  with  the  keen- 
ness of  a  sleuth-hound.  It  was  hoped  to  raise  fifty 
thousand  dollars;  but  in  order  to  make  any  sub- 
scription binding,  a  minimum  of  thirty  thousand  dol- 

128 


NATHAN   LORD 

lars  must  be  raised.  In  spite  of  all  Lord's  arts  of 
pleading  and  cajolery,  the  last  day  of  grace  arrived, 
and  only  $29,600  had  been  subscribed.  The  presi- 
dent, being  what  might  to-day  be  affectionately 
termed  at  Hanover  a  "  dead  game  sport  ",  extracted 
the  necessary  four  hundred  dollars  from  his  slender 
pocketbook,  although  he  had  already  given  three 
hundred  dollars,  and  saved  the  day. 

With  this  providential  manna,  the  debt  to  the 
John  Wheelock  estate  was  paid  off,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  its  history  the  college  owed  nobody  but 
itself.  It  was  like  a  boy  with  some  pocket  money 
as  a  new  experience.  Dartmouth  Hall  was  re- 
modeled by  tearing  out  rooms  in  the  center  and 
creating  "  Old  Chapel  ",  familiar  to  all  Dartmouth 
men  now  alive  down  to  the  class  of  1908,  and  hal- 
lowed by  the  memories  of  youth  rather  than  by 
any  sanctity  of  holiness.  A  new  bell  and  a  clock 
were  added  to  the  cupola,  and  two  dozen  two- 
bushel  baskets  were  bought  for  the  salvage  of  the 
library,  in  case  of  fire.  The  yard  was  graded,  and 
around  it  was  placed  "  a  sufficient  fence."  The 
college  was  putting  on  style. 

More  important  still,  the  two  severe  outriders  that 
now  flank  the  new  Dartmouth  Hall  were  built  and 
named  Wentworth  and  Thornton  respectively,  for 
the  generous  royal  governor  and  the  hearty  English 

129 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

squire.  They  were  the  first  additions  to  the  build- 
ings of  the  college  proper  since  1790.  The  old 
wooden  chapel  was  hauled  away  by  the  combined 
motive-power  of  forty  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  score  or 
two  of  students.  Refreshments  were,  of  course,  in- 
evitable. The  college  treasurer  had  to  pay  for: 
"  I  Bbl.  cider,  17  soft  Buisquet,  20  loaves  of  Bread, 
100  Crackers,  21  Ibs.  cheese,  6  tumblers,  3  gal.  A 
gin,  3  do.  N.  Rum,  i/^  do  molasses  ",  besides  two 
more  quarts  of  gin  and  three  of  rum  as  extras.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  the  bill  was  disputed. 

One  of  the  early  trials  of  President  Lord  was 
the  matter  of  disciplining  his  young  gentlemen. 
Whether  they  had  grown  a  trifle  too  boisterous  under 
the  mild  Tyler,  or  believed  that  they  could  impose 
upon  the  new  "  Prexy's  "  youth,  the  fact  was  that 
there  was  much  disorder  after  his  coming.  But  the 
disturbers  soon  got  a  taste  of  Nathan  Lord's  force. 
A  few  ringleaders  having  been  punished,  the  rest  of 
the  students  declared  a  revolution.  William  H. 
Duncan,  1830,  thus  describes  what  happened: 
"  Some  will  recollect  the  electric  effect  of  a  speech 
of  Dr.  Lord's  to  the  students  who  were  moved  to 
rebel.  They  had  threatened  to  leave  college  en 
masse  (as  they  often  do  if  their  wishes  are  not  com- 
plied with).  One  sentence  from  Dr.  Lord  went  like 
a  loaded  shell  into  their  ranks.  It  was  this:  'Go, 

130 


sy. 


Hanover  Inn 


NATHAN   LORD 

young  gentlemen,  if  you  wish;  we  can  bear  to  see 
our  seats  vacated,  but  not  our  laws  violated.'  This 
was  said  with  such  regal  decision  and  dignity  that 
no  man  of  those  classes  spoke  of  deserting  the 
college." 

However,  this  was  by  no  means  the  end  of  the 
rough  pranks  and  even  outrages  that  the  Dartmouth 
students  of  that  era  seemed  to  find  a  berserker  joy 
in  committing.  Some  of  these  performances  were 
mild,  as  the  seizure  by  the  freshmen  of  a  smoky 
stove  in  their  recitation-room  and  the  casting  of  it 
into  the  river.  Some  were  excusable,  as  the  tearing 
down  of  a  house  of  bad  reputation  known  as  the 
"  Seven  Nations  "  and  the  tarring  and  feathering 
of  a  vile  "  townie  ",  who  compelled  his  daughter  to 
dance  unclad  before  some  students. 

Other  exploits  were  less  commendable.  It  was 
thought  humorous  to  smash  freshmen's  windows, 
sprinkle  their  rooms  with  assafoetida,  or  worse,  and 
break  their  furniture.  To  install  a  flock  of  turkeys 
in  the  chapel,  and  cows  and  horses  in  the  upper 
corridor  of  Dartmouth  Hall,  known  for  generations 
as  "  Bed-bug  Alley  ",  was  regarded  as  meritorious, 
while  to  conceal  a  skunk  in  an  instructor's  desk 
against  his  lifting  the  lid  in  the  morning  was  thought 
a  triumph  of  genius.  Wild  outbursts  of  gun-firing 
were  common,  to  the  extent  that  special  laws  had 

131 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

to  be  passed  against  the  inflictions.  There  were 
still  worse  offenses.  A  vote  of  the  faculty  expelling 
one  particularly  heinous  sinner  is  illuminating: 

Whereas  Sophomore  Warren  appears,  from  evidence, 
to  have  been  the  leader  of  a  party  of  students,  in  dis- 
guise, who  broke  open  a  citizen's  house,  threatened  the 
inmates  with  death,  and  finally  not  proving  successful 
in  gaining  possession  of  the  house,  threw  large  stones 
through  the  windows  and  doors  to  the  manifest  danger 
of  the  lives  of  those  within;  whereas  the  said  Warren 
is  said  to  have  carried  a  loaded  pistol  on  the  night  of  the 
above  mentioned  attack,  and  whereas  the  said  Warren, 
though  put  on  strict  probation  for  his  misdemeanors, 
still  persisted  in  a  course  of  dissipation  and  secret  viola- 
tion of  college  laws,  such  as  frequent  participation  in 
convivial  entertainments  at  a  public  inn,  the  keeping  of 
ardent  spirits  in  his  room,  and  feasting  upon  stolen  fowls 
which  students  had  fattened  in  the  college  building  and 
other  violations  too  numerous  to  mention,  therefore  voted 
that  Sophomore  Warren  be  and  is  hereby  expelled  from 
college. 

Sometimes  mere  noise  took  a  ponderous  and  de- 
structive form.  A  famed  incident  occurred  in  the 
summer  of  1836,  and  is  thus  embalmed  in  a  letter 
written  home  by  Solomon  Laws,  of  the  class  of  1836: 

We  have  had  rather  squally  times  here  this  term.  The 
difficulties  arose  in  and  have  been  chiefly  confined  to  the 
Sophomore  class.  They  were  assembled  at  a  student's 
room  and  made  some  noise,  and  one  of  the  Tutors  went 

132 


NATHAN   LORD 

in  rather  abruptly  and  imprudently  ordered  silence  &c, 
when  some  of  them  insulted  him.  For  this  two  were 
suspended  for  three  months.  At  this  some  of  the  class 
were  much  offended,  and  on  the  night  following  some 
individuals  took  a  large  cannon  from  the  gun  house  in 
this  village,  drew  it  up  near  the  college  building  about 
under  the  offending  tutor's  window,  and  fired  it  with 
such  tremendous  charge  as  to  break  about  three  hundred 
and  twenty  squares  of  glass  from  the  college  buildings. 
It  jarred  the  houses  in  most  distant  parts  of  the  village, 
was  heard  several  miles  distant  and  supposed  to  be  an 
earthquake.  The  rogues  soon  returned  but  the  Faculty 
were  on  the  alert  immediately,  went  to  the  students' 
rooms  to  see  whose  shoes  were  wet  (for  it  had  rained  some) 
and  tried  some  into  the  tracks  where  they  drew  up  and 
fired  the  cannon,  and  found  the  boots  of  one  to  fit  some  of 
the  tracks.  With  this  and  some  little  other  evidence 
they  [sic]  faculty  expelled  him.  They  could  not  detect 
any  others. 

The  members  of  the  faculty,  it  will  be  noted,  were 
expected  to  be  and  were  detectives  of  no  mean  rank. 
Many  of  them  acted  as  police  officers,  and  they 
were,  from  the  students'  point  of  view,  perniciously 
active  at  night,  skirmishing  about  the  buildings, 
sometimes  in  disguise,  listening  at  doors  for  signs 
of  forbidden  practices.  Even  President  Lord  him- 
self was  not  averse  to  a  merry  chase  after  nocturnal 
roisterers  now  and  then,  and  it  was  told  of  him  by  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1846,  that  in  pursuit  of  said 
member  one  night,  the  honored  head  of  the  institu- 

133 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

tion  fell  sprawling  into  an  open  ditch,  but  retained 
presence  of  mind  enough  to  detect  the  identity  of 
the  culprit  by  his  laugh.  The  president  would  also 
mix  with  a  "  rush  ",  and  his  "  Desist,  young  gentle- 
men, desist  ",  accompanied  by  the  pounding  of  his 
cane  on  the  ground,  was  a  famous  slogan  for  years. 

The  concerted  blowing  of  fish-horns  enlivened 
many  an  otherwise  dull  Hanover  evening.  The 
origin  of  this  custom  is  lost  in  obscurity.  Lord 
thinks  that  perhaps  the  sound  of  the  conch  shell, 
with  which  the  first  president  assembled  his  stu- 
dents, or  of  the  horn,  that  in  his  day  and  again  on 
the  failure  of  the  bell  in  1820,  called  the  college  to 
its  duties,  so  caught  the  fancy  of  the  students  that 
they  were  unwilling  to  let  it  pass  away.  At  any 
rate,  faculty  legislation  was  directed  against  it  as 
early  as  1835,  and  J.  W.  Barstow,  of  1846,  says: 

"  Horn-blowing  was  in  full  vogue  and  blast  from 
1842  to  1845,  but  the  origin  of  the  vicious  habit 
antedated  my  own  college  days.  I  remember  that 
in  1843-44  the  practice  had  become  general  in 
college,  so  much  so  that  the  Faculty  had  magnified 
the  nuisance  into  a  crime,  until  at  length  expulsion 
was  threatened  to  any  student  caught  with  a  horn 
in  hand,  or  even  found  in  his  room." 

The  "Great  Awakening"  of  July,  1851,  is  tra- 
ditionally believed  to  have  marked  the  high  tide  of 

134 


NATHAN   LORD 

"  horning."  On  the  seventh  of  that  month,  a  hun- 
dred or  more  students  had  gone  to  a  postponed 
"  Glorious  Fourth  "  celebration  at  St.  Johnsbury, 
Vermont,  to  lend  Professor  Sanborn,  who  was  to 
give  the  oration,  their  moral  support.  It  turned  out' 
to  be  immoral,  for  bottles  of  rum  were  carried  along, 
and  the  collegians,  becoming  somewhat  uproarious, 
rebelled  at  the  poor  service  at  the  banquet  and  in- 
terrupted the  post-prandial  speechmakers  with  cat- 
calls. A  member  of  Congress,  one  of  the  disturbed, 
wrote  violent  letters  \:o  the  press  about  it,  and  the 
faculty  had  to  notice  the  affair.  On  the  night  of 
the  twelfth  the  students,  angered  because  the  case 
had  been  taken  up  for  discipline,  let  loose  what  the 
Oldest  Inhabitant  is  wont  to  call  the  most  hellish 
three  hours'  pandemonium  of  horns,  cow-bells, 
devil's  riddles,  and  other  noise-producers  that  the 
town  had  ever  heard.  For  this  eleven  men  were 
"  separated." 

"  Horning  "  survived  in  milder  form  a  great  many 
years.  In  the  middle  eighties  it  became  a  testi- 
monial of  disapproval  for  professors  or  tutors  who 
had  offended  a  class,  or  an  insulting  defiance  from 
freshmen  to  sophomores,  who  would  quite  often 
respond  with  volleys  of  stones  or  coal  from  the 
dormitory  most  frequented  by  "  Sophs."  In  1896, 
the  students  voluntarily  decided  to  give  up  the 

135 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

practice.  But  in  1848  it  was  still  considered  neces- 
sary by  the  faculty  to  pass  such  a  resolution  as: 
"  Voted,  to  require  Sophomore  Reed  to  deliver  up 
his  trumpet  wherewith  he  discpurseth  most  horrible 
music  to  the  college  and  furthermore  to  apologize 
to  Professor  Chase  for  his  insult  to  him,  and  in 
default  thereof,  to  be  suspended  from  examination. 
N.  B:  Reed  is  also  to  be  admonished  for  blowing 
his  horn,  during  Professor  Brown's  recitations." 

Such  pranks  as  occasionally  marked  the  activities 
of  Nathan  Lord's  "  young  gentlemen "  would  be 
considered  rather  silly  busin  ;ss  by  Dartmouth  men 
of  to-day  —  and  silly  they  would  be,  for  very  good 
reasons,  one  of  which  is  that  there  are  now  so  many 
other  things  to  do.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
}  that  in  the  forties  and  fifties  student  effervescence 
was  rigidly  corked  by  faculty  and  trustee  law. 
Theatricals  were  banned;  cards  were  rigidly  pro- 
hibited; dancing  was  in  such  bad  odor  that  on  one 
occasion  thirty-one  students  were  fined  two  dollars 
each  for  going  to  a  school  of  instruction  in  the 
wicked  art;  even  bowling  was  frowned  upon.  The 
military  company  called  the  "  Dartmouth  Pha- 
lanx ",  by  means  of  which  some  youthful  excess 
steam  had  been  legitimately  let  off,  was  abolished 
in  1845,  because  it  was  deemed  too  devoted  to 
spirits.  Most  of  the  things  that  were  prescribed  were 

136 


NATHAN  LORD 

dull,  while  most  of  the  things  that  were  amusing 
were  proscribed. 

However,  the  purchase  in  1848  of  a  fine  new  eight 
hundred  dollar  hand-tub,  most  appropriately  named 
Phoenix,  brought  much  joy  and  opportunity  for 
useful  activity,  for  in  term  time  the  students  manned 
its  long  pump-sweeps  and  hose  with  a  will.  It  was 
often  suspected  that  old  barns  and  other  worthless 
buildings  were  set  on  fire  by  the  boys,  in  order  to 
furnish  the  sheer  delight  of  fighting  the  flames. 
President  Lord  used  now  and  then  to  come  out  and 
direct,  in  his  courtly  way,  the  fire  company's  en- 
deavors. He  never  forgot  his  suave  and  cultivated 
manner  of  speech  on  such  occasions.  Once,  as  the) 
youthful  firemen  were  playing  upon  a  burning 
store  on  Main  Street  and  directing  the  stream  too 
constantly  at  one  spot,  the  president  mounted  a 
stone  block  in  front  of  the  Dartmouth  Hotel,  com- 
manded silence  for  a  moment,  and  then,  sweeping 
his  right  arm  back  and  forth  in  an  expressive  semi- 
circle, cried  in  his  clear  and  penetrating  voice:  \ 
"  Gentlemen  of  the  machine  —  more  scope;  more  , 
scope!  "  They  supplied  the  scope,  and  the  building  ' 
was  saved. 

Doctor  Lord's  keenness  at  reading  the  interior 
of  students'  minds  was  proverbial.  "  The  President 
with  eyes  of  green  ",  wrote  J.  W.  Barstow,  of  '46, 

137 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

"  was  Dr.  Lord,  for  he  wore  the  same  green  specs  in 
my  day,  and  on  to  the  end,  worn  (it  was  evident  to 
every  student)  not  so  much  as  a  protection  from  the 
sun's  glare,  but  as  they  furnished  a  secure  fence, 
behind  which  the  dear  old  Shepherd  could  glare  at 
his  sheep  without  detection  and  watch  every  pos- 
sible thing  that  happened  to  be  going  on  in  his 
vicinity,  whether  in  chapel  or  recitation  room  or 
even  in  the  solemn  personal  interviews  with  luckless 
students  in  the  dreaded  '  Prexy's  Study.'  I  have 
seen  him  in  chapel  open  the  Bible,  repeat  a  psalm 
(apparently  reading  it)  and  his  restless  eyes  mean- 
while over  the  edge  of  his  glasses,  searching  every 
/  face  in  every  seat  and  every  corner.  No  wonder 
[  that  he  was  credited  with  semi-omniscience." 

The  death  of  Daniel  Webster  in  1852  furnished 
the  most  solemn  observance  of  the  times  at  Han- 
over. The  college  buildings  were  draped  in  black, 
flags  were  put  at  half-staff,  college  exercises  were 
omitted  for  a  day,  and  a  meeting  was  held  in  the 
chapel,  at  which  it  was  decided  to  ask  Rufus  Choate 
to  deliver  a  commemorative  oration  at  the  next 
Commencement.  That  historic  address  was  given 
in  the  old  church  before  the  most  distinguished 
audience  it  has  ever  held,  while  as  many  more 
clamored  for  admission  outside  and  even  tried  to 
storm  the  doors. 

138 


NATHAN   LORD 

The  eulogy  is  said  to  have  made  an  extraordinary 
impression.  "  For  almost  two  hours  and  a  quarter," 
says  Lord,  "  Mr.  Choate  held  the  dense  and  eager 
assembly  in  almost  breathless  silence."  This  Com- 
mencement was  long  in  ill  favor  in  other  respects, 
for  the  hotel  men  raised  their  rates  to  exorbitant 
figures  and,  according  to  one  of  the  New  Hampshire 
papers,  there  was  "  an  usual  amount  of  fighting, 
drinking,  and  general  rowdyism  in  and  about  certain 
underground  liquor  dens,  one  of  which  was  con- 
nected with  the  principal  hotel  in  the  village." 

Despite  occasional  excesses  of  this  kind,  more 
on  the  part  of  visitors  and  "  townies  "  than  of 
students,  life  in  Hanover  had  been  gradually  im- 
proving. For  example,  the  Family  Visitor  of  May 
15,  1844,  informed  the  college  world  that  "Mr. 
Kinsman  has  constructed  a  neat  and  convenient 
bathing  house,  which  will  be  open  in  a  few  days." 
The  little  building  stood  on  the  south  side  of  Whee- 
lock  Street,  nearly  opposite  the  site  of  the  present 
Episcopal  Church.  For  a  number  of  years  it  enjoyed 
considerable  patronage.  Among  others  who  made 
use  of  it  were  the  young  ladies  of  Mrs.  Peabody's 
school,  which  was  kept  in  a  house  where  Webster 
Hall  now  stands,  who  were  required  to  form  a 
weekly  procession  thither  with  soap  and  towels.1  The 
1  "  History  of  Dartmouth  College,"  Vol.  II. 
139 


common  was  fenced  to  keep  out  the  villagers'  cows. 
The  "  Hanover  Ornamental  Tree  Association  "  was 
formed,  and  to  its  blessed  labors  the  Dartmouth  of 
to-day  owes  many  of  its  beautiful  trees. 

The  railroad  reached  the  near-by  Lebanon  in 
November,  1847,  and  the  old,  picturesque,  but 
inconvenient  days  of  the  stage-coaches  from  Con- 
cord, from  Brattleboro,  from  Burlington,  and  from 
Haverhill,  laden  with  jolly  students,  their  boxes 
and  trunks  strapped  in  mountainous  piles  behind, 
were  gone  forever.  There  are  Dartmouth  men  still 
living  who  recall  the  coaching  days  with  delight. 
And  they  could  not  have  been  so  very  slow.  From 
Boston,  the  trip  to  Hanover  could  be  made  in  a  day 
and  a  half;  it  takes  practically  one  day  now.  Rates 
were  six  cents  a  mile,  and  there  were  no  rebates  for 
"  coach  sickness  ",  nor  for  damage  resulting  from 
capsizes,  which  were  not  wholly  unknown. 

Before  the  advent  of  the  locomotive,  the  college, 
under  Lord,  had  begun  to  crowd  the  stage-coach 
tops  more  and  more.  There  was  a  rapid  growth 
from  1835  to  1842.  From  an  average  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  students,  there  was  an  increase  to  two 
hundred  in  1836  and  to  three  hundred  and  forty  in 
1840.  In  1842  there  were  graduated  eighty-five 
men.  Yale  that  year  sent  forth  one  hundred  and 
five,  Harvard  fifty-five,  and  Princeton  forty-five. 

140 


NATHAN   LORD 

Again  Dartmouth  had,  comparatively,  passed  the 
"  small  college  "  phase  of  Webster's  plea. 

Pressure  for  room  began  to  be  felt  seriously. 
"  Bed-bug  Alley  ",  Wentworth,  and  Thornton  were 
over-populous.  A  new  building  was  imperative,  and 
the  will  of  Honorable  William  Reed,  of  Marblehead, 
Massachusetts,  bequeathing  seven  thousand  dollars 
at  once,  ten  thousand  dollars  more  after  the  passing 
of  another  of  the  legatees,  and  twelve  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  at  the  pleasure  of  the  widow,  seemed 
to  point  a  providential  way.  The  old  Wheelock 
mansion,  southwest  of  Thornton,  was  moved  away 
(to  become  the  Howe  Library  of  the  present  day) 
and  on  the  site,  Reed  Hall  was  built,  —  a  plain 
structure,  but  of  beautiful  proportions  and  destined 
in  later  years  to  be  considered  a  place  of  residence 
for  Sybarites,  because  it  was  long  the  only  dormitory 
heated  by  steam. 

In  1842  came  a  sudden  shock  to  the  pleasant  plans 
for  a  growing  college.  Due  mainly  to  the  financial 
distress  of  the  country  just  before  that  time,  the 
entering  class  numbered  only  forty-three  and  gradu- 
ated but  thirty.  In  1845  there  were  but  one  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  academic  students  in  the  whole 
college,  as  against  three  hundred  and  forty-one  in 
1840.  A  sorry  hole  was  made  in  the  receipts  from 
tuition,  while  expenses  ran  on  as  usual.  To  make  a 

141 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

bad  matter  worse,  the  Reed  legacy  hung  fire,  and 
Reed  Hall  had  to  be  paid  for. 

There  was  but  one  thing  to  do:  start  another 
subscription;  and  Nathan  Lord  went  at  that  thing 
with  his  characteristic  energy.  The  sum  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars  was  asked  for,  on  the  condition  that 
thirty  thousand  dollars  be  raised  before  August  I, 
1843.  The  effort  failed,  and  would  have  died  utterly 
but  for  the  generosity  of  Samuel  Appleton,  of  Bos- 
ton, who  refused  to  take  back  his  thousand-dollar 
check  and  advised  another  subscription.  This  was 
attempted,  with  another  time  limit  set  at  August  I, 
1845.  Again  the  amount  lacked  completion,  this 
time  by  four  thousand  dollars,  and  again  rare  old 
"  Sam  "  Appleton  came  forward  with  a  check,  giving 
nine  thousand  dollars,  and  raising  himself  to  de- 
served canonization  in  the  annals  of  Dartmouth. 

A  few  years  later  came  a  bequest  that  proved 
more  easily  collectible  than  that  of  William  Reed. 
This  was  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  from  Abiel 
Chandler,  of  Walpole,  New  Hampshire,  for  "  the 
establishment  and  support  of  a  permanent  depart- 
ment or  school  of  instruction  in  the  practical  and 
useful  arts  of  life."  With  this  money  was  founded 
the  Chandler  Scientific  School,  afterward  called 
the  Chandler  Scientific  Department,  and  in  1893 
completely  merged  with  the  college. 

142 


NATHAN   LORD 

In  the  Lord  era,  the  Dartmouth  students,  as  those 
of  other  colleges,  took  their  politics  pretty  seriously. 
In  1856  a  Republican  Club  was  organized,  and  an 
amusing  account  is  preserved  of  a  debate  in  the 
chapel  between  Edward  F.  Noyes,  later  a  Union 
general  and  governor  of  Ohio,  and  the  Democratic/ 
postmaster  of  Hanover,  Reverend  Daniel  F.  Richard-  I 
son.  The  club  raised  a  splendid  120-foot  flagpole 
in  the  middle  of  the  campus,  made  by  two  Maine 
students  who  had  previously  been  shipwrights.  This 
pole  lasted  till  1869,  though  its  political  origin  was 
often  overlooked  for  the  more  attractive  fact  that 
its  crosstree  furnished  an  admirable  display-point 
for  utensils  and  figures  that  the  students  deemed 
proper  for  exposition. 

Scales,  in  his  history  of  the  class  of  1863,  relates 
that  on  one  occasion  the  effigy  of  a  New  Hampshire 
judge,  who  had  made  himself  obnoxious  to  the 
students,  was  thus  suspended  from  the  pole.  An 
investigation  followed,  in  which  a  student  was 
asked  if  he  had  any  part  in  raising  to  the  crosstree 
the  man  who  had  there  fixed  the  efRgy,  and  he 
promptly  replied:  "  I  did  not,"  and  was  dismissed. 
After  graduation,  he  met  Professor  Aiken,  and, 
recalling  the  circumstance,  asked  him  if  he  remem- 
bered his  reply.  "  Yes,"  said  Professor  Aiken,  "  but 
I  always  felt  that  you  were  not  telling  the  truth." 

143 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

"  I  did,"  he  replied,  "  for  I  was  the  man  who  was 
pulled  up."  Another  man,  noted  for  his  untidy 
person  and  slovenly  dress,  on  being  called  before 
the  faculty,  admitted  that  he  was  disguised.  On 
being  questioned  as  to  the  nature  of  his  disguise, 
he  hesitated  and  stammeringly  said:  "  Well  —  I  - 
I  —  had  on  a  clean  shirt." 

The  epoch  of  Nathan  Lord  was  necessarily  one  of 
change,  experiment,  and  development.  Much  can 
and  does  happen  to  any  college  in  thirty-five  years. 
Several  of  the  innovations  pleased  the  president's 
"  young  gentlemen  "  greatly.  They  liked  the 
abolition  of  college  honors  and  the  giving  of  Com- 
mencement parts  to  everybody,  though  the  faithful 
audiences  of  parents,  friends,  and  sweethearts  must 
have  suffered  torments  when,  as  sometimes  hap- 
pened, they  had  to  sit  through  the  forensic  efforts 
of  fifty  "  Commencers."  This  terror  was  afterward 
abated  by  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  drawing  lots 
for  Commencement  parts,  a  scheme  President  Lord 
stubbornly  refused  to  change,  even  against  the 
almost  unanimous  request  of  the  faculty  and  an  ap- 
peal from  the  Boston  alumni.  His  answer  was  that 
honors  were  "  unchristian  and  immoral  as  making  an 
appeal  to  wrong  motives  and  hurtful  ambition."  The 
trustees  stood  by  him  in  this  view  of  the  matter. 
To  the  students  it  seemed  a  great  gospel  of  peace. 

144 


NATHAN   LORD 

Equally  popular  was  the  final  extinction  of  the 
chapel  exercise  in  the  dawn  and  its  removal  to  the 
after-breakfast  hour,  though  the  young  gentlemen 
were  a  bit  saddened  by  the  rearrangement  of  the 
chapel  seats,  by  which  it  was  made  impossible  for 
the  sophomores  to  "  rush  "  the  freshmen  out  through 
the  doors  and  down  the  granite  steps.  But  again 
came  compensation:  the  evening  prayers  were 
abolished  in  1860;  only  a  few  of  the  old  New 
Hampshire  Puritans  were  known  to  take  this  as 
evidence  that  Satan's  black  wings  were  spreading 
over  the  Hanover  plain. 

The  question  of  slavery,  that  touched  many  an- 
other American  college  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  came  to  Dartmouth  with  peculiar 
intimacy  and  finally  forced  its  great  president  into 
retirement.  Nathan  Lord  in  his  earlier  days  had 
been  a  stout  abolitionist.  His  conversion  to  pro- 
slavery  was  almost  as  sudden  and  startling  as  was 
Paul's  to  Christianity.  In  1847  he  read  a  pamphlet 
by  one  B.  F.  French,  of  Lowell,  arguing  that  the. 
bondage  of  the  black  man  was  divinely  ordained. 
From  that  moment  he  appears  to  have  believed 
likewise.  He  wrote  public  letters,  using  all  his  arts 
of  logic  to  persuade  the  world  that  slavery  was 
defensible,  "  not  as  it  existed  in  this  country  or  as 
it  ever  existed  anywhere  on  the  whole  ",  but  per  sey 

145 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

apart  from  its  abuses,  as  an  institution  of  God 
according  to  natural  and  revealed  religion,  that, 
like  war  or  pestilence,  was  designed  by  God  as  a 
penalty  for  sin;  and  he  called  it  a  divine  institution, 
not  because  it  was  blessed,  but  because  he  believed 
that  it  was  divinely  ordered.1 

This  was  a  bit  too  subtle  for  the  average  Northern 
conscience,  and  although  the  president  was  kindly 
disposed  toward  the  negro,  actually  helping  fugitive 
slaves  from  his  private  purse  and  admitting  colored 
students  refused  from  other  New  England  colleges, 
his  peculiar  views  aroused  great  hostility  toward  the 
man  and  toward  the  college  itself.  In  the  college 
no  one  was  particularly  disturbed;  the  students 
excused  the  president's  opinions  on  slave-holding 
as  one  with  his  "  peculiarities." 

With  the  coming  of  the  Civil  War,  however,  this 
peculiarity  became  the  centering-point  of  violent 
attacks,  natural  enough  under  the  changed  circum- 
stances. The  good  old  doctor  was  accused  of  being 
a  traitor,  whose  words  were  giving  aid  and  comfort 
to  the  enemy.  One  of  his  letters  to  the  Boston 
Courier  (November  22,  1862)  was  reprinted,  in 
garbled  form,  by  the  Connecticut  Democrats  as  a 
campaign  document,  which  did  not  improve  the 
situation.  The  president  published  this  as  a  pam- 
1 "  History  of  Dartmouth  College,"  Vol.  II. 

146 


NATHAN   LORD 

phlet  in  which  he  held  that  the  true  responsibility  for 
the  great  conflict  was  upon  abolition,  as  an  attempt 
to  subvert  the  moral  government  of  God.  This 
was  the  last  straw.  The  church  of  the  North  was 
up  in  arms  at  once.  Resolutions  were  passed  by  the 
Merrimack  County  Conference  of  Congregational- 
ists  calling  upon  the  trustees  to  inquire  whether  the 
interests  of  the  college  did  not  demand  a  change  in 
the  presidency. 

The  trustees  could  no  longer  blink  the  ugly  situa- 
tion. When  they  met  on  July  21,  1863,  the  storm 
lowered.  A  motion  being  made  to  confer  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws  upon  Abraham  Lincoln  alone,  that 
year,  President  Lord  voted  against  it,  making  a 
tie.  His  foes  in  the  board  then  presented  the  Mer- 
rimack County  resolutions.  The  majority  refused 
to  endorse  them;  they  would  not  ask  the  resigna- 
tion of  Doctor  Lord,  but  they  went  on  record  as 
declaring  that  they  did  not  "  coincide  with  the 
President  of  the  College  in  the  views  which  he  has 
published,  touching  slavery  and  the  war ",  also 
hoping  that  "  American  slavery  with  all  its  sin  and 
shame  .  .  .  may  find  its  merited  doom  in  the  conse- 
quence of  the  war  which  it  has  evoked." 

Upon  hearing  this,  stout  old  Nathan  Lord  seized 
his  cane,  walked  out  of  the  trustee-room,  and  re- 
turned in  half  an  hour  with  his  letter  of  resignation. 

147 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

He  would  quit  before  he  would  trim,  though  quitting 
took  away  his  livelihood.  He  could  not  agree  to  any 
"  test  "  of  opinion,  and  also  he  would  not  "  submit 
to  any  censure,  nor  consent  to  any  conditions  such 
as  are  implied  in  the  aforesaid  action  of  the  board." 
He  held  also  that  it  was  "  inconsistent  with  Chris- 
tian charity  and  propriety  to  carry  on  my  adminis- 
tration, while  holding  and  expressing  opinions  in- 
jurious, as  they  imagine,  to  the  interests  of  the 
College,  and  offensive  to  that  party  which  they  here 
professedly  represent." 

Such  a  resignation,  tendered  in  such  a  style,  ad- 
mitted of  nothing  but  acceptance,  and  the  trustees 
at  once  did  the  obvious  thing,  doubtless  much  re- 
lieved that  the  stalwart  old  fighter,  who  regarded 
his  convictions  as  more  valuable  than  his  position, 
had  taken  a  great  burden  from  their  shoulders. 

Nathan  Lord  in  the  retirement  of  his  study  —  he 
lived  out  the  remaining  seven  years  of  his  life  in 
Hanover  —  could  justly  reflect  that  he  had  done  a 
man's  work  in  his  long  presidency.  He  found  the 
college  groping;  he  left  it  walking  erect  and  firmly. 
The  faculty  had  increased  from  ten  to  seventeen. 
The  shabby  old  college  buildings  and  unkempt 
grounds  had  been  transformed,  and  three  new  halls 
and  an  observatory  had  been  erected.  The  assets 
of  the  institution  had  grown  from  eighty-five  thou- 

148 


NATHAN   LORD 

sand  dollars  to  two  hundred  and  one  thousand  dol- 
lars. And  the  president  had  sent  2,675  young 
citizens  into  the  world,  most  of  whom  were  doing 
something  that  the  world  wanted  done. 

To-day  Nathan  Lord's  belief  in  the  divine  origin 
of  slavery  becomes  trivial.  What  he  did  for  Dart- 
mouth and  the  essential  Dartmouth  man  is  not 
forgotten. 


149 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE    "  DARTMOUTH    ROLL    Ol 

DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE  gave  652  of  her  sons 
to  the  service  of  the  military  forces  that  kept 
the  Union  whole.  Some  were  old  men;  most  were 
in  their  early  vigor,  and  some  again  were  mere  boys 
who,  when  they  had  fought  out  the  fight,  returned 
to  college  or  came  for  the  first  time.  Classes  were 
represented  from  1822  to  1884.  With  these  652, 
Dartmouth  furnished  a  larger  proportional  number 
of  soldiers  for  the  Civil  War  than  did  any  other 
college  of  the  North.  On  every  battlefield,  in  every 
hospital,  in  every  camp,  on  the  march  and  in  the 
bivouac,  the  men  of  Dartmouth  were  to  be  found 
doing  their  duty,  dying  bravely  or  living  honorably 
as  the  god  of  battle  decreed. 

Dartmouth  has  as  yet  no  noble  hall  for  a  Valhalla 
to  her  soldier  heroes;  but  she  has  two  bronze  tablets 
in  "  Webster  ",  and  she  has  a  little  green  book  with 
the  Great  Seal  stamped  in  gold  on  its  cover.  This 
book  is  the  "  Dartmouth  Roll  of  Honor ",  and 
within  its  137  pages  is  enfolded  the  story  of  the 

150 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

devotion  of  one  New  England  college  to  its  gov- 
ernment and  its  flag. 

In  this  memorial  we  find  that  204  men  were  com- 
missioned as  surgeons  or  assistant  surgeons,  thirty 
as  second  lieutenants,  forty-seven  as  first  lieuten- 
ants, sixty-seven  as  captains,  sixteen  as  majors, 
twenty-one  as  lieutenant-colonels,  twenty-four  as 
colonels,  and  four  as  brigadier-generals,  and  some  of 
these  received  additional  honors  "  for  meritorious 
conduct  "  in  special  engagements  or  for  the  war, 
three  having  the  brevet  rank  of  captain,  one  of 
major,  three  of  lieutenant-colonel,  nine  of  briga- 
dier-general and  three  of  major-general. 

When  the  news  of  the  firing  upon  Sumter  reached 
Hanover,  the  few  students  from  the  South,  whom 
President  Lord's  pro-slavery  views  had  attracted 
to  Dartmouth,  went  home  in  a  hurry.  A  military 
company  of  sophomores  was  immediately  formed 
and  called  the  "  Dartmouth  Zouaves."  It  was 
well  drilled,  but  performed  no  actual  service.  On 
May  8,  Charles  Lee  Douglas,  of  the  class  of  '62, 
enlisted  in  the  First  New  Hampshire,  and,  it  is 
believed,  was  the  first  college  undergraduate  to 
join  the  Union  Army.  Others  dropped  out  of 
college  from  time  to  time,  but  it  was  not  until  May, 
1862,  that  any  general  exodus  of  student-warriors 
was  threatened.  What  then  happened  caused  the 

151 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

faculty  some  anxiety.  A  high-spirited,  brilliant 
young  junior,  Sanford  S.  Burr,  of  Foxboro,  Massa- 
chusetts, a  magnificent  horseman,  "  talked  war  day 
and  night "  and  induced  a  hundred  students  to 
promise  to  organize  with  him  a  company  of  cavalry. 
New  Hampshire,  Maine,  and  Massachusetts  de- 
clined to  accept  the  troop,  but  Rhode  Island  agreed 
to  stand  sponsor  for  it,  if  it  could  be  raised  imme- 
diately. 

The  students  were  greatly  excited;  Mars  was  the 
only  classical  hero  worth  mention.  President  and 
faculty  advised  the  young  men  to  stick  to  their 
books,  but  made  no  attempt  to  coerce  them.  Finally 
only  thirty-five  men  left  Dartmouth,  and  other 
institutions  were  drawn  upon  to  make  up  the 
eighty-five  known  as  "  The  College  Cavaliers." 
These  youthful  horse  reached  Washington,  June  30. 
On  the  way,  "  elegant  handkerchiefs  arid  fans  were 
forced  upon  the  acceptance  of  the  students  "  by 
Philadelphia  ladies.  It  must  have  needed  force, 
indeed,  to  impose  "  elegant  fans  "  on  Dartmouth 
cavalrymen. 

The  squadron  did  good  service  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  in  September  captured  a  supply  train  of  eighty- 
five  of  Longstreet's  wagons.  It  was  mustered  out  in 
October,  and  most  of  the  Dartmouth  men  returned 
to  Hanover,  where  they  were  piqued  to  find  that, 

152 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

patriotism  or  no  patriotism,  they  would  have  to 
pass  the  examinations  that  had  been  held  during 
their  military  pilgrimage.  They  threatened  to 
secede  to  Brown  in  a  body,  whereupon  the  Dart- 
mouth faculty  promptly  surrendered  to  the  youth- 
ful veterans,  who  all  resumed  their  places  in  the 
college. 

It  was  not  only  those  fired  by  young  blood  who 
entered  the  service  of  their  country.  Many  men 
far  past  the  military  age  limit,  mostly,  of  course, 
as  surgeons  and  chaplains,  joined  army  or  navy. 
The  oldest  of  whom  there  is  record  was  Henry 
Wood,  of  the  class  of  1822,  who  was  sixty-five  when 
the  war  broke  out.  He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  United 
States  Navy,  but  not  a  war  recruit,  for  he  had  served 
since  1856.  Ebenezer  Hunt,  1822  (Medical),  was 
sixty-four  when  commissioned  assistant  surgeon  of 
the  Eighth  Massachusetts  Volunteers.  Nathaniel 
Gould  Ladd,  another  surgeon,  had  reached  sixty- 
three  at  the  time  of  his  brief,  but  honorable  service. 

One  of  the  noted  Dartmouth  "  Medics  "  who 
ministered  to  the  wounded,  and  himself  died  of 
illness  incurred  in  the  line  of  duty,  was  Luther  V. 
Bell,  of  the  class  of  1826.  Doctor  Bell  was  commis- 
sioned surgeon  of  the  Eleventh  Massachusetts  on 
June  13,  1861.  In  September,  so  splendid  had  been 
his  work,  he  was  appointed  brigade  surgeon  of 

153 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

Hooker's  Brigade,  and  then  promoted  to  be  medical 
director  of  Hooker's  division.  The  horrors  of  war 
impressed  him  at  once.  Following  the  first  great 
disaster  at  Bull  Run  he  wrote  to  a  friend: 

The  whole  volume  of  military  surgery  was  opened 
before  me  on  Sunday  afternoon  (July  21,  1861)  with 
illustrations  horrid  and  sanguinary.  Sudley  Church  with 
its  hundred  wounded  victims  will  form  a  picture  in  my 
sick  dreams  so  long  as  I  live.  I  have  never  spent  one 
night  out  of  camp  since  I  came  into  it,  and  a  bed  and 
myself  have  been  strangers,  practically,  for  months; 
yet  I  have  never  had  one  beginning  of  a  regret  at  my 
decision  to  devote  what  may  be  left  of  life  and  ability 
to  the  great  cause.  I  have,  as  you  know,  four  young 
motherless  children.  Painful  as  it  is  to  leave  such  a 
charge,  I  have  forced  myself  into  reconciliation  by  the 
reflection  that  the  great  issue  under  the  stern  arbitra- 
ment of  arms  is,  whether  or  not  our  children  are  to  have 
a  country. 

Stirring  was  the  career  of  Rufus  Gilpatrick,  of 
the  medical  class  of  1834.  Going  to  Kansas  in  1854, 
he  plunged  with  all  his  soul  into  the  wild  turmoil 
that  surrounded  the  making  of  that  territory  into  a 
free  State.  He  became  an  intimate  and  ardent 
friend  of  John  Brown  and  with  that  noble  fanatic 
engineered  the  "  underground  railway "  for  th£ 
escape  of  fugitive  slaves.  He  was  a  leader  in  the 
fiery  politics  of  the  period;  was  president  of  the 

154 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

first  State  Congressional  Convention  and  presi- 
dential elector  in  1850.  When  the  war  broke  out,  he 
became  surgeon  of  a  brigade  organized  by  General 
James  H.  Lane.  His  service  with  the  Army  of  the 
Frontier  was  notable,  both  as  a  field  surgeon  and 
as  secret  agent  of  the  United  States.  At  the  battle 
of  Webber's  Falls,  in  the  Indian  Territory,  he 
bravely  remained  behind  his  command,  to  minister 
to  a  wounded  soldier,  and  was  shot  dead,  while  in 
this  act  of  mercy,  by  a  company  of  Confederate 
soldiers. 

To  these  Dartmouth  men  and  to  the  two  hundred 
more  who,  either  as  surgeons  or  assistant  sur- 
geons, gave  the  best  there  was  in  them  to  their 
allotted  work,  the  country  owes  loving  remem- 
brance. 

Dartmouth's  army  chaplains  were  many  and  of 
honorable  fame.  Perhaps  the  best  known  to  the 
men  of  the  college,  because  of  his  long  service  as 
Latin  professor,  ~was  Henry  Elijah  Parker,  the  be- 
loved "  Picker  "  of  later  days  in  the  classroom.  He 
was  commissioned  chaplain  of  the  Second  New 
Hampshire  in  June,  1861.  Chaplain  Parker  was 
closely  and  continually  associated  with  the  regiment 
all  of  the  time  of  his  service.  The  men  of  the  regi- 
ment always  had  a  very  friendly  and  kindly  feeling 
for  him.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  First  Bull  Run 

155 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

and  Williamsburg,  and  others  in  which  the  regiment 
was  engaged.  He  always  succored  the  wounded 
without  heeding  whether  he  was  under  fire  or  not. 

A  militant  man  of  God  was  Daniel  Foster,  '41, 
chaplain  of  the  Thirty-third  Massachusetts.  At 
Chancellorsville,  seizing  a  musket  from  a  fellow 
soldier,  he  rushed  into  the  ranks  as  a  self-made 
recruit.  From  that  time  on  he  was,  of  course,  known 
as  the  "  fighting  chaplain  ",  and  in  November, 
1863,  was  transferred  to  the  Thirty-seventh  United 
States  Colored  Volunteers,  with  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain. Like  so  many  other  officers,  he  led  his  dusky 
troops  with  great  bravery,  fighting  at  the  Wilder- 
ness, Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  Cold  Harbor,  and 
the  siege  of  Petersburg.  Like  so  many  others,  too, 
he  mingled  his  life's  blood  with  that  of  the  negro, 
being  killed  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  at  Chapin's 
Farm,  September  30,  1864. 

Another  alumnus  who  was  not  too  proud  to  cast 
his  lot  with  colored  troops  was  Royal  Parkinson, 
'42,  chaplain  of  the  Twenty-third  United  States 
Regiment,  which  was  one  of  the  first  to  enter  Rich- 
mond. He  was  not  content  with  preaching  and 
praying,  but  taught  the  men  arithmetic,  geography, 
and  history  in  quieter  times  in  camp. 

Alonzo  Hall  Quint,  '46,  of  the  Second  Massachu- 
setts, was  one  of  the  famous  chaplains  of  the  war. 

156 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

His  bravery  in  action,  his  devotion  to  the  men,  his 
wide  and  tender  sympathies,  made  him  a  notable 
figure  in  any  division  in  which  the  Second  was  in- 
cluded. It  is  related  of  him  that  after  a  great  battle 
he  found  one  of  his  regiment  dying  upon  the  field. 
He  knew  that  the  man  was  a  Catholic.  Breaking  a 
couple  of  twigs  from  a  bush,  he  tied  them  in  the 
form  of  a  cross  and  held  the  emblem  before  the  sol- 
dier's fast  glazing  eyes.  "  The  smile  of  joy  upon  the 
poor  fellow's  face  ",  said  the  chaplain  long  after- 
ward, "  assured  me  that  I  had  performed  something 
of  the  work  of  the  Master,  and  I  was  glad."  Parton, 
the  historian,  called  Mr.  Quint  "  one  of  the  bravest 
chaplains  of  the  war  '',  and  Colonel  Cogswell's  report 
to  the  Second  Massachusetts,  said  of  him:  "  It  is 
not  improper  to  speak  of  this  officer  as  having  al- 
ways (and  especially  in  time  of  action)  been  of  the 
greatest  value  to  the  regiment.  His  energy  and  per- 
severance were  of  the  highest  order."  Chaplain 
Quint  wrote  letters  from  the  field  to  the  Congre- 
gationalist  during  his  three  years  of  service,  and 
after  the  war  published  a  history  of  his  regiment. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  and  suggested  the  motto  on  the  badge 
of  the  order. 

Another  noted  figure  who  wore  the  insignia  of  a 
chaplain  was  John  Eaton,  '54,  for  many  years  after 

157 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

the  war  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education. 
Beginning  as  chaplain  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Ohio, 
he  ended  his  service  as  colonel  of  the  Sixty-third 
United  States  colored  Infantry,  and  retired  with 
the  brevet  rank  of  brigadier-general.  In  the  inter- 
vening years  his  career  was  varied  and  exciting. 
Twice  he  was  a  prisoner  within  the  Confederate 
lines,  once  being  requisitioned  to  preach  to  the 
enemy's  soldiers.  In  1862  he  was  appointed  by 
Grant  superintendent  of  the  negroes,  who  in  multi- 
tudes were  pilgrims  into  the  great  commander's 
lines  in  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi.  He 
proved  a  marvelous  organizer  of  the  black  folk's 
efforts  to  be  of  use. 

George  Webb  Dodge,  '50,  was  one  of  the  few  army 
chaplains  who  knew  the  bitterness  and  horror  of 
long  captivity  in  Confederate  prisons.  He  was 
commissioned,  April  20,  1861  —  one  of  the  very 
first  chaplains  to  join  the  army  after  Sumter  —  in 
the  Eleventh  New  York  Volunteers,  the  famous 
Ellsworth's  Zouaves.  At  Alexandria  he  climbed  the 
fatal  stairs  of  the  Marshall  House  with  his  colonel 
to  help  haul  down  the  rebel  flag,  and  stood  beside 
him  when  the  enraged  innkeeper  fired  the  shot  that 
was  to  keep  Ellsworth's  memory  bright  forever. 
At  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  Chaplain  Dodge  was 
taken  prisoner.  Then  began  a  weary  year  of  shift- 

158 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

ing  from  one  prison  to  another.  At  first  came 
Libby,  not  so  very  appalling  at  that  early  day;  then 
Castle  Pinckney,  South  Carolina,  where  the  chap- 
lain nearly  died  from  yellow  fever;  then  Charleston 
jail;  then  the  dreadful  Salisbury,  North  Carolina, 
with  its  miasma,  its  stenches,  its  boiling  sun,  and 
its  human  cruelties;  then  Libby  again,  now  filthy, 
vermin-haunted,  and  heart-breaking.  But  the  chap- 
lain preached  and  prayed  and  cheered  his  comrades 
until  he  was  exchanged  in  July,  1862.  The  twelve- 
month, however,  had  done  its  work,  and  with  broken 
health  he  resigned  from  the  army. 

Arthur  Little,  '60,  was  the  youngest  of  the  Dart- 
mouth chaplains  of  whom  there  is  record.  He  was 
twenty-seven  when  commissioned  in  the  Eleventh 
Vermont  in  March,  1863.  He  saw  the  horrors  of  the 
Wilderness  and  Cold  Harbor  and  was  active  in 
caring  for  the  wounded.  At  Charleston,  Virginia,  a 
classmate,  Colonel  George  E.  Chamberlain,  was  mor- 
tally wounded  and  died  in  his  arms.  In  that  gallant 
soldier's  unfinished  letter  to  his  wife  were  these 
words:  "We  are  in  God's  hands;  and  his  will  is 
better  than  our  will;  we  will  love  him  and  trust  him 
and  be  satisfied."  He  also  saw  his  brother-in-law, 
Captain  E.  B.  Frost,  '58,  expire  of  a  terrible  wound, 
received  at  Cold  Harbor,  "  happy  to  die  for  my 
•country  and  for  my  God."  Chaplain  Little's  mag- 

159 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

netic  preaching  was  long  remembered  by  the  men 
who  went  through  the  dreary  winter  before  Peters- 
burg. 

On  nearly  every  great  battlefield  a  Confederate 
bullet  struck  a  Dartmouth  heart.  Some  of  the  killed 
were  but  lads,  who  had  left  the  college  for  the  camp. 
A  splendid  type  of  these  young  patriots  was  Dennis 
Duhigg,  who  would  have  graduated  in  1863,  but 
enlisted  in  the  Fifteenth  Vermont  in  September, 
1862,  as  a  private.  In  two  months  he  was  pro- 
moted to  sergeant-major  for  gallantry.  He  became 
first  lieutenant  of  the  Eleventh  Vermont  and  was 
made  a  captain  just  before  the  battle  of  Winchester. 
In  that  engagement,  when  the  order  came  to  charge 
the  enemy,  he  shouted  as  he  took  his  place:  "  Come 
on,  boys;  I  have  never  driven  you,  but  I  will  lead 
you."  In  a  few  moments  he  fell,  mortally  wounded. 
"  My  last  prayer  is  offered.  I  die  happy,"  he  mur- 
mured, as  he  was  "  mustered  out." 

Arthur  Edwin  Hutchins,  '57,  first  lieutenant  in 
the  Eleventh  New  Hampshire,  fought  with  con- 
spicuous gallantry  at  Fredericksburg  in  the  Mc- 
Clellan  campaign  and  before  Vicksburg.  At  the 
battle  of  the  Wilderness,  serving  on  the  staff  of 
Brigadier-General  Griffin,  he  was  given  an  order  to 
carry  to  another  commander.  "  Make  all  speed  ", 
was  his  instruction,  "  for  on  your  celerity  depend 

160 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

the  lives  of  ten  thousand  men."  Spurring  his  horse, 
he  dashed  across  an  open  field,  unmasking  the 
enemy's  position  as  he  rode.  "  But  ",  says  the 
"  Roll  of  Honor  "  with  simple  eloquence,  "  neither 
horse  nor  rider  ever  stirred  again." 

Oliver  Tucker  Cushman,  '63,  enlisted  in  his  junior 
year  in  the  First  Vermont  Cavalry.  From  sergeant  to 
second  lieutenant,  to  first  lieutenant,  to  captain, 
he  made  his  way.  Terribly  wounded  in  the  face 
while  charging  with  General  Farnsworth  at  Gettys- 
burg, he  returned  to  Hanover,  but  could  not  rest 
content.  He  rejoined  his  regiment  in  October  and 
then,  its  term  of  enlistment  having  expired,  he 
re-enlisted  and  kept  on  fighting.  His  hour  of  fate 
came  at  Hawes'  Shop  near  Richmond,  June  3,  1864, 
just  as  he  was  about  to  receive  his  commission  as 
major.  Of  him  said  General  William  Wells:  "  He 
was  not  only  one  of  our  bravest,  but  also  one  of 
our  best  men,  and  had  he  lived  would  have  ob- 
tained a  high  rank  in  the  army.  His  company 
was  devotedly  attached  to  him,  and  his  superi- 
ors in  command,  as  well  as  all  his  associates,  bear 
witness  to  his  high  character  as  a  soldier  and  a 
man." 

Another  undergraduate  who  earned  his  special 
place  in  the  "  Roll  of  Honor  "  was  Richard  Bailey 
Crandall,  '63,  who  left  college  in  the  autumn  of 

161 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

1861  as  adjutant  of  the  Sixth  Vermont.  In  less  than 
a  year  he  was  its  major.  To  an  extraordinary  degree 
the  joy  of  battle  was  for  him  a  high  emotion.  "  To 
have  lived  a  minute  then  was  worth  a  thousand 
years  ",  he  said  of  the  gallant  but  fruitless  charge 
up  the  heights  of  Fredericksburg.  The  college  and 
the  army  were  the  poorer  when  a  Confederate  bullet 
ended  his  life  during  the  gigantic  sharpshooters' 
contest  along  the  entrenchments  at  Cold  Harbor. 

Some  men  of  the  great  conflict  preferred  death, 
or  the  risk  of  it,  to  the  torture  of  Libby,  or  Ander- 
sonville,  or  Salisbury  prisons.  William  Carter 
Tracy,  '58,  was  of  that  stamp.  As  first  lieutenant 
in  the  Fourth  Vermont,  he  was  in  every  battle  fought 
by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  from  McClellan's  ill- 
starred  peninsula  campaign  to  the  awful  slaughter 
of  the  Wilderness.  Twice  wounded  in  that  titanic 
struggle,  he  refused  to  leave  the  head  of  his  com- 
pany. Recovering,  he  was  with  his  regiment  on 
June  23,  1864,  when  it  was  placed  in  the  Weldon 
railroad  near  Petersburg.  All  at  once  Confederates 
sprang  up  before  them  as  if  some  magician  of  war 
had  tapped  the  earth.  The  Vermonters  were  out- 
numbered five  to  one.  Only  the  line  of  railroad  iron 
toward  the  Union  lines  was  open.  "  Surrender  ", 
yelled  an  officer  of  the  "  Johnnies."  Most  of  the 
regiment  threw  down  their  arms.  "  Cut  for  it  ", 

162 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

shouted  Lieutenant  Tracy,  running  down  the  track. 
A  few  of  his  men  followed  him;  but  so  did  a  Con- 
federate bullet,  passing  through  his  head. 

William  Lawrence  Baker,  a  Chandler  Depart- 
ment man  of  '58,  was  a  dashing  lieutenant  of  ar- 
tillery in  the  Fourth  United  States.  At  Winchester, 
though  but  comparatively  new  to  the  service,  "  his 
bearing  was  that  of  a  veteran."  Sighting  and  firing 
his  guns  himself,  he  cut  to  pieces  an  attack  intended 
to  capture  his  battery.  For  his  heroic  conduct  here 
and  at  Port  Republic  he  won  warm  official  praise. 
He  deserved  better  of  fate  than  to  die  alone,  with  no 
man  to  take  a  farewell  message  from  his  lips.  When 
the  awful  field  of  Antietam  was  searched,  after  the 
conflict  there,  Lieutenant  Baker  was  found  lying  by 
one  of  his  guns.  A  smile  was  on  his  face,  though  a 
bullet  had  pierced  his  heart. 

Dartmouth  was  compelled  to  claim  one  deserter. 
Yet  his  name  is  included  in  the  "  Roll  of  Honor  ", 
and  rightly.  Franklin  James  Burnham,  '69,  rose 
from  a  private  to  first  lieutenant  in  the  Ninth  New 
Hampshire,  and  saw  South  Mountain,  Antietam, 
Fredericksburg,  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania,  Cold  Harbor,  and  Petersburg  on  the 
way.  In  the  Mississippi  swamps  chills  and  fever 
nearly  finished  him.  After  recovery  in  a  Kentucky 
hospital,  he  was  sent  to  the  Veteran  Reserve  Corps, 

163 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

an  honorable  enough  but  totally  stagnant  assign- 
ment. It  did  not  suit  at  all  this  Dartmouth  man, 
who  had  been  a  brilliant  leader  in  college  activities. 
He  deliberately  deserted  and,  with  some  difficulty 
and  some  privations,  made  his  lonely  way  to  his 
regiment  and  reported  for  duty  to  his  astounded 
superiors.  He  received  promotion  instead  of  a 
court-martial,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  Lincoln 
sent  him  a  quaint  and  characteristic  letter,  endorsing 
that  kind  of  a  deserter  and  wishing  there  were  more 
like  him  in  the  army. 

Thus  could  the  little  green  book  be  drawn  upon 
for  story  added  to  story  of  the  valor  and  devotion 
and  faith  of  the  men  of  Dartmouth  in  the  four 
years'  appeal  to  arms.  Those  who  survived  flowed 
back  to  their  homes  in  a  great  tide  of  usefulness. 
Empty  sleeves  and  crutches  became  but  the  com- 
monplaces of  a  new  life  in  the  community.  The 
embedded  bullet  could  not  stop  a  career.  In  the 
halls  of  Congress;  in  the  capitols  of  States;  in  the 
classrooms  of  great  universities;  in  famous  pulpits; 
in  powerful  banks;  in  vast  manufactories;  in  foreign 
legations;  in  pioneering  on  the  seven  seas,  the 
Dartmouth  veterans  made  themselves  felt,  and  many 
of  them  are  still,  fifty  years  after  "  Appomattox  and 
its  famous  apple-tree  ",  virile  and  active  in  every 
line  of  human  endeavor. 

164 


THE  "DARTMOUTH  ROLL  OF  HONOR" 

For  those  who  did  not  survive,  it  is  one  of  Dart- 
mouth's great  hopes  that  soon  it  will  be  true,  in 
deed  as  well  as  in  word,  that 

The  granite  of  New  Hampshire 
Keeps  the  record  of  their  fame. 


165 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    FIRST    CITY    PRESIDENT 

WITHIN  three  weeks  of  the  day  when  Nathan 
Lord  stamped  out  of  the  trustee  room  and 
the  presidency,  a  new  head  of  Dartmouth  College 
had  been  chosen,  and  within  two  months  more  he 
had  been  inaugurated  in  a  raging  storm  and  to  the 
harrowing  music  of  a  neighboring  village's  "  Cornet 
Band."  As  late  as  1863,  rural  simplicity  governed 
inaugurations  at  Hanover.  In  fact,  "  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance "  never  did  appear  at  such  events  until 
the  installation  of  Ernest  Fox  Nichols  in  1909,  when 
the  college  had  ceased  to  be  "  small  "  and  had  ac- 
quired sophistication. 

The  new  president  was  Reverend  Asa  Dodge 
Smith,  D.  D.,  of  the  class  of  1830,  the  distinguished 
pastor  of  the  Fourteenth  Street  Presbyterian  Church, 
New  York.  There  was  for  some  time  to  be  no 
change  in  the  custom  of  choosing  a  president  from 
the  clergy,  a  custom  previously  broken  only  in  the 
case  of  John  Wheelock.  Doctor  Smith  was  dis- 
tinctly urban  in  style,  in  manner,  and  in  looks, 
though  one  might,  perhaps,  have  rated  his  infantile, 

166 


7, 

,1k/* 


North  Massachusetts  Hall 


THE   FIRST   CITY  PRESIDENT 

cherubic  face  as  a  little  more  indicative  of  guileless- 
ness  than  was  the  fact.  He  was  of  fine  height  and 
bearing,  and  he  always  appeared  in  public  in  a  well- 
tailored  dress  coat,  immaculate  shirt  front  adorned 
by  two  large  gold  studs,  and  a  high  collar  of  the 
stock  variety,  about  which  was  wound  the  finest 
black  satin  cravat  that  money  could  buy.  Doctor 
Smith,  it  will  be  understood,  brought  a  whiff  of 
metropolitan  air  to  the  country  college,  and  it  was 
undoubtedly  a  beneficial  element.  The  first  genu- 
inely city  man  to  occupy  the  president's  chair  at 
Dartmouth,  he  gave  to  it  a  certain  distinction  that 
proved  very  useful  later  on. 

No  sooner  was  President  Smith  fairly  seated  than 
some  of  Nathan  Lord's  policies  were  either  badly 
maimed  or  killed  outright.  But  if  it  hurt  the  re- 
tired old  warrior  to  see  the  slaughter,  he  gave  no 
sign,  even  when  his  cherished  scheme  of  assigning 
Commencement  parts  by  lot  was  abolished  and 
scholarship  again  made  the  test,  or  when  prizes, 
considered  by  him  as  immoral,  were  instituted,  and 
prize  speaking  contests  at  Commencement  between 
juniors  and  sophomores  were  revived. 

The  ancient  Quarter  Days,  occasions  of  vast  out- 
pourings of  oratory,  debates,  poems,  and  music, 
were  also  resurrected  in  a  vain  attempt  to  restore 
the  former  vitality  to  the  old  societies,  the  United 

167 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

Fraternity  and  the  Social  Friends,  which  had  now 
become  mere  custodians  of  libraries  and  divisions 
of  the  students  in  general  football  exercise  on  the 
campus.  The  "  Junior  Exhibition  "  was  established 
in  the  spring  term,  orations  being  expected  from 
fifteen  or  more  men  on  the  basis  of  their  scholastic 
ranking. 

For  a  while  the  new  order  aroused  genuine  inter- 
est, but  it  soon  became  irksome,  and  the  exhibitions 
went  out  of  existence.  The  last  to  die  was  that  of 
the  juniors,  which  survived  until  1878.  For  several 
years  these  exercises  were  made  the  butt  of  a  mock 
programme  gotten  out  by  the  sophomores  in  a  style 
sometimes  witty  and  always  more  or  less  scurrilous. 
As  a  composite  of  several  efforts,  with  the  worst 
features  omitted  and  family  names  changed,  the 
following  may  be  submitted: 

LOGICAL   DISQUISITION 

"  Some  pumpkins  are  green; 
I  am  green; 
Therefore,  I  am  some  pumpkins." 

G-assy  W-indbag  Howard. 


ORATION 

How  I  made  the  spondoolix  fly  —  or 
My  twenty-five  cent  bust. 

Little  Charlie  Birrell. 

168 


THE   FIRST   CITY  PRESIDENT 

ETHICAL   ORATION 

"Aint  I  a  hard  boy?" 

F-oolish  W-itless  Jaynes. 

Before  this  promising  youth  concludes  his  happy  effort 
the  audience  will  be  fully  convinced  that  in  his  case 
"  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction." 


SCIENTIFIC   DISSERTATION 

The   Darwinian    theory  reversed,  or  the   monkey  de- 
scended from  (a)  man. 

A-wful  L-ibel  Rumsey. 


TIGHT  ROPE   PERFORMANCE 

W-ild  A-pe  Lloyd. 
C-lass  M-onkey  Cray. 
Lloyd  doing  the  tight  and  Cray  the  rope. 


SYRIAC   ORATION 

Zlpoknxquevwatvpolecat." 

J-ackass  S.  Converse. 


MUSIC 

Hark  from  the  tombs  a  doleful  sound." 

To  be  sung  by  the  audience. 


During  the  exercises  W-illing  C-atspaw  Woodside,  the 
class  fag,  will  circulate  a  slop-pail  for  the  convenience  of 
those  sick  at  the  stomach. 

169 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

With  demoniac  howls  the  class  repair  for  the  denoue- 
ment to  Bed  Bug  Bar  Room,  where  they  close  the  exer- 
cises of  the  day  with  a 

GRAND   FINE  ALE. 


While  it  was  never  confessed,  the  probability  is 
that  the  "  Junior  Exhibitions  "  were  abandoned  by 
the  faculty  for  the  sake  of  putting  an  end  to  the 
accompanying  outbreaks  of  Rabelaisian  humor. 
The  "  Social  "  and  "  Fraters  "  divisions  of  the 
whole  college  went  on  in  a  perfunctory  fashion,  most 
men  neither  knowing  nor  caring  to  which  society 
they  had  been  assigned  by  the  faculty,  until  June, 
1904,  when  the  traditional  fragments  of  the  organi- 
zations voted  to  give  up  their  respective  ghosts  and 
convey  their  libraries  to  the  college. 

No  college  president  is  without  a  money  problem; 
none  ever  can  be.  President  Smith  met  his  with 
supreme  tact  and  energy.  It  was  not  for  nothing 
that  he  had  come  from  a  rich  congregation  and  was 
well  known  in  New  York.  When  he  passed  the 
academic  hat  in  that  town,  goodly  checks  fluttered 
into  it.  The  trustees  encouraged  him  to  set  a  one 
hundred  thousand  dollar  goal  as  the  limit  of  his 
money-raising  endeavors.  Within  three  years,  thirty 
thousand  dollars  was  obtained,  and  the  president 
further  secured  during  his  administration  additions 

170 


THE   FIRST  CITY  PRESIDENT 

of  seventy  thousand  dollars  to  the  scholarship  funds 

of  the  college.  ly 

Some  reasonably  handsome  bequests  came  along  in 
Doctor  Smith's  time,  among  them  one  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  from  Judge  Richard  Fletcher, 
of  Boston,  ten  thousand  dollars  of  which  was  re- 
served as  a  fund  for  a  biennial  prize  for  an  essay 
"  to  counteract  the  worldly  influences  that  draw 
professed  Christians  into  fatal  conformity  to  the 
world  ",  which  ponderous  theme  proved  so  unat- 
tractive a  magnet  that  it  was  afterward  deemed 
advisable  to  ask  the  courts  to  permit  some  other 
use  of  the  money.  Judge  Joel  Parker,  of  Cambridge, 
left  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars  for  the 
benefit  of  a  library  and  for  the  purpose  of  founding 
a  law  school.  This  also  was  impracticable,  and  the 
fund  was  used  to  establish  a  professorship  of  law 
and  political  science.  Another  bequest,  a  splendid 
gift,  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars,  came  from 
Tappan  Wentworth,  of  Lowell,  with  instructions 
that  it  be  allowed  to  accumulate  until  it  had  reached 
half  a  million.1  The  gifts  to  all  departments  of  the 
college  during  Doctor  Smith's  administration 
amounted  to  ^960,5^0. 

But   much   of  this   money  was   not   immediately 

1  In  1896  this  fund  reached  the  desired  mark  and  the  income  began, 
to  be  of  use  to  the  college. 

171 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

available,  and  straitened  financial  conditions  went 
on  as  usual.  The  trustees  had  begun  to  realize 
that  the  faculty  was  miserably  underpaid.  A 
full  professor  got  only  eleven  hundred  dollars  and 
the  president  eighteen  hundred  dollars.  In  1865, 
these  sums  were  increased  to  thirteen  hundred 
dollars  and  two  thousand  dollars;  in  1866  to  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  and  two  thousand  dollars,  and 
in  1869  to  two  thousand  dollars  and  three  thousand 
dollars,  at  which  notches  they  stuck  persistently 
for  a  score  of  years  more. 

The  students  were  made  to  assist  in  this  laudable 
work  to  some  degree.  The  annual  tuition  fee  was 
raised  from  fifty-one  dollars  to  sixty  dollars  in  1867; 
to  seventy  dollars  in  1872,  and  to  ninety  dollars  in 
1876.  The  "  graduation  fee  ",  politely  supposed  to 
be  expended  for  diploma  costs,  was  set  at  eight  dol- 
lars, and  it  is  there  yet. 

Happily,  the  chronic  poverty  of  a  college  never 
makes  it  misanthropic  or  morose.  When  1869 
reached  the  scene,  it  found  that  great  preparation 
had  been  made  for  a  joyous  Centennial  celebration 
at  Dartmouth.  This  was  held  on  Wednesday  of 
Commencement  week.  Realizing  that  the  church 
could  not  hold  a  quarter  of  the  people  who  would 
come  to  Hanover,  and  the  hotels  not  a  tenth  part, 
a  huge  tent,  two  hundred  and  five  feet  long  and 

172 


THE  FIRST   CITY  PRESIDENT 

eighty-five  feet  wide,  with  a  seating  capacity  of 
five  thousand,  was  borrowed  from  Yale.  This  was 
set  up  at  the  western  side  of  the  Common,  while 
over  on  the  eastern  edge  was  erected  a  great  board 
barracks,  three  hundred  feet  long  and  forty  feet 
wide,  for  a  dining-hall.  A  photograph  of  the  Com- 
mon thus  decorated  shows  that  the  college  grounds 
must  have  looked  as  if  a  cross  between  a  "  Greatest 
Show  on  Earth  "  and  a  military  encampment  were 
in  progress,  the  latter  resemblance  being  increased 
by  the  presence  of  two  good-sized  tents,  where 
Rollins  Chapel  now  stands,  for  the  classes  of  1867 
and  1868,  and  a  hundred  army  wall  tents  back  of 
Dartmouth,  used  as  bachelor  quarters  for  the 
general  alumni. 

The  food  for  this  occasion  is  said  to  have  been 
historically  bad,  though  furnished  by  an  able  hotel 
man,  Asa  T.  Barren.  "  There  was,  perhaps  in- 
evitably ",  says  Doctor  W.  T.  Smith  in  his  "  Han- 
over Forty  Years  Ago  ",  "  considerable  complaint 
in  regard  to  the  catering  in  general  and  the  dinner 
in  particular,  so  that  when,  after  Commencement, 
Mr.  Barron  invited  several  members  of  the  faculty 
to  take  a  trip  among  the  mountains  as  his  guests, 
a  local  wit,  Ira  B.  Allen,  remarked  that  he  did  this 
'  to  take  the  cuss  off  the  dinner.' ' 

The  morning  exercises  went  very  well.  There 
173 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

was  a  procession,  and  as  it  passed  the  house  of  ex- 
President  Lord,  hundreds  of  his  "  young  gentle- 
men "  of  other  days  uncovered,  as  the  face  of  the 
veteran  was  seen  at  his  chamber  window:  Salmon 
P.  Chase,  then  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States 
and  President  of  the  Alumni,  was  master  of  cere- 
monies in  the  tent.  Suave  President  Smith  made  a 
speech  of  welcome  "  in  his  happiest  vein  ",  and  there 
was  a  historical  address  by  President  Brown,  of 
Hamilton  College,  son  of  Dartmouth's  third  presi- 
dent. 

But  in  the  afternoon  there  came  an  unbidden  guest 
who  made  things  very  disagreeable  for  the  festal 
throng  under  canvas.  He  did  not  register,  but  it 
was  proven  beyond  doubt  that  his  name  was  J. 
Pluvius.  He  had  rarely  been  in  better  form. 

Professor  John  K.  Lord,  who  was  present  on  that 
direful  afternoon,  gives  us  a  lively  picture  of  what 
happened.  "  Judge  Chase  ",  he  says,  "  began  the 
exercises  with  a  pleasing  extempore  address.  Three 
of  the  assigned  addresses  were  then  given,  when,  to 
break  the  succession,  a  poem  written  for  the  occa- 
sion by  George  Kent  of  the  class  of  18 14  was  read  by 
Judge  Barrett  of  Vermont.  As  he  was  reading, 
there  came  the  interruption  for  which  there  had  been 
no  provision.  A  shower,  announced  by  heavy 
thunder,  burst  upon  the  tent  as  if  the  very  windows 

174 


THE   FIRST   CITY  PRESIDENT 

of  heaven  had  been  opened,  and  the  audience  made 
the  appalling  discovery  that  the  tent  was  not  water- 
proof. Judge  Barrett,  who  was  of  stuff  too  stern 
to  yield  to  wind  and  rain,  held  his  post  and  only 
read  the  louder.  But  it  was  of  no  use;  at  first  in 
vapory  thinness,  then  in  sheets  and  streams,  the 
water  poured  through  the  canvas  of  the  tent.  A 
few  had  umbrellas,  some  held  settees  as  a  roof  above 
their  heads,  others,  including  the  Chief  Justice  and 
most  of  the  dignitaries  from  the  stage,  sought  be- 
neath the  platform  a  refuge  from  the  flood,  but  they 
had  forgotten  the  cracks  between  the  boards,  and 
as  the  water  poured  through  them  in  concentrated 
fury,  the  disappointed  victims  found  that  their  last 
estate  was  wetter  than  their  first. 

'  The  shower  was  as  brief  as  it  was  fierce,  and  as 
it  passed  away,  the  audience  took  heart  with  the 
returning  sun  and  though  clothes  were  soaked, 
toilettes  disarranged  and  finery  ruined,  it  resumed 
its  place  with  numbers  almost  undiminished.  Judge 
Barrett  who  had  left  the  stage  with  slouched  hat 
and  dripping  garments  came  back  and  finished 
reading  the  poem.  Senator  Patterson  delivered 
his  address,  which  Mr.  Duncan  says  '  was  by  no 
means  a  dry  one,'  and  received  the  compliment  of 
*  the  undivided  attention  of  the  audience  which 
had  been  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  storm,  and 

175 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

which  was  not  only  wet,  but  soaked  and  thor- 
oughly uncomfortable.'  ' 

The  bedraggled  orators  and  auditors  could  stand 
no  more,  and  the  rest  of  the  speech-making  was 
put  over  until  the  following  afternoon.  But  the 
students  obligingly  gave  their  naive  gymnastic 
exercises  in  front  of  the  tent,  to  the  great  delectation 
of  the  crowd,  which,  in  that  archaic  era,  had  not 
learned  the  fiercer  joys  of  the  Commencement  base- 
ball contests.  Could  the  Dartmouth  students  of 
to-day  be  induced  to  perform  in  a  body  with  staves, 
dumb-bells,  and  Indian  clubs  for  the  delight  of  the 
admiring  friends  of  Class  Day  Week?  Could  those 
of  any  college,  for  that  matter? 

After  the  Commencement  feast  in  the  long  shed 
next  day,  the  "  main  top  "  was  again  crowded. 
Governor  Stearns  assured  the  college  of  the  State's 
distinguished  consideration,  though  he  did  not 
promise  any  money.  General  William  T.  Sherman, 
who  had  been  given  the  LL.  D.  degree  in  1866, 
made  a  neat  speech  after  the  inevitable  and,  to  him, 
finally  dreadful  "  Marching  Through  Georgia " 
from  the  Boston  band  in  attendance.  Great  joy 
was  afforded  by  "  Long  John  "  Wentworth,  the 
famous  millionaire  pioneer  of  Chicago,  who  remarked, 
apropos  the  professions  of  great  embarrassment  on 
the  part  of  several  who  Had  preceded  him:  "  Per- 

176 


THE   FIRST   CITY  PRESIDENT 

haps  you  think  I'm  embarrassed,  but  I  ain't." 
This,  as  he  deliberately  hoisted  his  colossal  bulk  of 
six  feet  and  ten  inches  above  the  heads  of  the 
audience  and  glowered  about  him,  nearly  brought 
down  the  tent.  An  evening  promenade  concert 
under  the  huge  canvas,  overpoweringly  illuminated 
by  the  glare  of  half  a  dozen  locomotive  headlights, 
brought  the  Centennial  festivities  to  a  brilliant 
close. 

The  life  of  the  Dartmouth  undergraduate  in 
"  Prexy "  Smith's  day  was  simple.  For  many, 
teaching  in  the  winter  months  was  a  regular  routine, 
and  all  over  northern  New  England  the  boys  and 
girls  of  the  "  Little  Red  Schoolhouse  "  felt  the  in- 
fluence of  Dartmouth  training,  which  often  included 
thrashing  the  boys  and  making  love  to  the  girls. 
A  long  vacation  of  six  weeks  just  after  Thanksgiving 
made  matters  fairly  easy  for  the  young  pedagogues. 
Even  after  changing  the  terms  and  shortening  the 
winter  recess,  the  custom  continued  in  a  measure 
and  was  not  unknown  in  the  late  eighties. 

Returning  teachers  brought  back  with  them  the 
money  which  enabled  them  to  meet  their  college 
expenses  and  also  experiences  that  were  both  valu- 
able and  interesting.  Most  of  them  taught  in 
schools  where  "  K°  aiding  round  "  was  the  regular 
practice,  and  the  teacher  went  from  family  to  family, 

177 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

according  to  a  definite  system  determined  by  the 
number  of  children  going  to  school.  As  each  family 
usually  delayed  the  annual  killing  of  the  pig  till  the 
coming  of  the  teacher,  his  customary  meat  diet 
through  the  term  was  fresh  pork  and  sausage.  It 
was  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  student  to  break  his 
own  road  through  the  snowdrifts  to  the  schoolhouse 
and  to  build  the  fires.  The  conditions  of  his  work 
were  primitive,  and  the  subjects  which  he  taught 
were  not  advanced,  but  he  widened  his  acquaintance, 
learned  adaptation  and  self-dependence,  and  brought 
back  to  college  the  confidence  born  of  success.1 

The  Aegis  for  July,  1861,  contains  a  statement  as 
to  the  students  engaged  in  teaching  during  the  year 
1860-1861,  from  which  it  appears  that  out  of  the 
275  members  of  college,  excluding  the  students  of 
the  Medical  and  the  newly-organized  Chandler 
Schools,  173  taught  during  the  year.  The  aggre- 
gate length  of  their  schools  was  2,278  weeks;  the 
total  amount  earned  was  $23,089.75,  and  the  total 
net  amount  brought  back  to  college,  after  deducting 
payments  for  board  and  other  expenses,  was  $14,- 
I^5-75?  a  sum  that  would  have  paid  the  expenses  of 
all  who  taught,  for  tuition,  board,  room-rent,  fuel, 
lights,  and  washing,  reckoned  at  the  maximum  rate 
of  $174.50  given  in  the  catalogue  of  that  year.  At 
1  "  History  of  Dartmouth  College,"  Vol.  II. 
178 


THE   FIRST   CITY  PRESIDENT 

the  minimum  rate  of  $124.50,  the  proportion  of  ex- 
penses met  would  have  been  much  larger.  Of  the 
173  who  taught,  there  were  thirty-five  seniors  out  of 
a  class  of  fifty-seven,  forty  juniors  out  of  sixty-five, 
fifty-two  sophomores  out  of  seventy-two,  and  thirty- 
seven  freshmen  out  of  eighty-one.  Of  the  schools 
sixty-four  were  in  Massachusetts,  seventy-six  in 
New  Hampshire,  twenty-five  in  Vermont,  and  three 
in  Maine. 

Slowly  came  liberalizing  in  rule  and  event  for  the 
students  of  this  era.  A  reading-room  was  opened 
on  the  ground  floor  of  Dartmouth  Hall,  the  trustees 
contributing  forty  dollars  a  year  for  its  upkeep, 
and  the  undergraduates  contributing  the  money  for 
papers  and  magazines.  The  library,  which  had 
hitherto  been  a  chaos  of  poorly  catalogued  and  gen- 
erally unobtainable  books,  was  made  respectably 
workable  and  attractive.  .  The  college  church, 
known  to  its  reluctant  Sabbath  devotees  as  the 
"  barn  ",  was  painted  and  had  its  seats  widened  and 
provided  with  cushions,  "  so  that  one  could  go  to 
sleep  upon  them  without  danger  of  falling  off." 
Money  for  this  work  of  mercy  was  raised  by  the 
entertainments  in  the  Dartmouth  Hotel,  where 
charades,  wax-works,  and  imitations  formed  the 
staple  of  amusement.  In  1872  the  afternoon  church 
service  was  abolished,  and  a  brief  chapel  exercise 

179 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

took  its  place,  "  as  a  police  regulation  "  to  discourage 
//    afternoon  pilgrimages  from  town. 

The  building  of  the  Bissell  Gymnasium  in  1866 
gave  a  new  point  for  undergraduate  interest.  This 
structure,  considered  something  of  a  marvel  in  its 
day,  the  best  in  the  country,  was  made  possible 
through  the  gift  of  George  H.  Bissell,  of  1845,  a 
New  York  lawyer.  It  was  ninety  feet  long  and 
forty-seven  wide,  was  well  equipped  and  actually 
contained  bowling  alleys,  which  had  been  anathema 
in  the  college  but  a  few  years  previous.  Militarism 
also  took  its  place  as  an  outlet  for  temperamental 
exuberance,  and  two  companies,  "  A  "  and  "  B  ", 
of  the  "  Dartmouth  Cadets  of  New  Hampshire  " 
were  formed  in  1873,  with  uniforms  and  muskets 
furnished  by  the  State.  These  academic  militia- 
men were  known  as  the  "  Dartmouth  Belligerents  " 
and  for  a  time  they  were  impressive. 

"  Three  days  in  the  week  ",  said  the  Dartmouth, 
"  at  a  certain  hour  the  two  companies  of  Dartmouth 
Cadets  may  be  seen  parading  on  the  common  or  in 
the  park.  They  make  a  fine  display  in  their  neat 
uniforms  of  blue,  and  the  instruction  in  the  tactics 
progresses  rapidly."  A  later  issue  announced  that: 
"  The  Cadets,  who  have  attained  wonderful  pro- 
ficiency in  military  evolutions,  are  also  obliged  to 
suspend  operations  and  go  into  winter  quarters." 

180 


THE   FIRST   CITY  PRESIDENT 

"  Not  all  were  equally  alert  ",  says  Lord,  "  and 
one  man  marched  so  lazily  that  Professor  Young, 
who  was  one  day  watching  the  drill,  exclaimed: 
*  He  ought  to  have  a  bee  in  the  seat  of  his  trousers.'  ' 
In  a  year  or  two  the  "  Belligerents  "  tired  of  their 
toys  and  the  companies  perished  of  inertia. 

The  relations  between  sophomores  and  freshmen 
had  not,  in  President  Smith's  time,  reached  their 
present  state  of  urbanity.  "  Rushes  "  of  strenuous 
character  were  frequent.  Chapel  seats  were  daubed 
with  grease,  or  paint,  or  molasses.  The  climax  of 
such  performances  was  reached  when  the  body  of 
Evans,  a  murderer,  was  stolen  from  the  Medical 
School  and  placed  on  one  of  the  freshmen  benches, 
past  which  the  sophomores  solemnly  filed,  as  the 
organist  played  a  particularly  gloomy  dirge.  In- 
dividual hazing  was  not  unknown,  and  there  is  a 
tradition  that  one  especially  obnoxious  "  fresh  " 
freshman  was  boxed  in  a  packing-case,  which  was 
set  upon  the  rear  platform  of  the  southern  night 
express,  with  the  result  that  the  unhappy  individ- 
ual's plight  was  not  discovered  until  the  train  was 
far  down  in  Connecticut.  Against  such  practices 
the  faculty  thundered  and  demanded  pledges  of 
abstention,  but  not  very  successfully.  Time,  with 
its  civilizing  influences  and  its  changed  notions  of 
class  amenities,  was  required  for  the  complete  re- 

181 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

form.  Occasionally,  however,  the  majesty  of  the 
law  stepped  in,  as  when  nine  undergraduates  were 
arrested  for  cleaning  out  the  store  of  an  unpopular 
bookseller  named  Parker  and  were  haled  to  the 
Plymouth  court,  by  which  they  were  eventually 
fined  $350. 

President  Smith  resigned  on  December  22,  1877, 
by  reason  of  ill  health,  and  finally  retired  on  March 
I,  1878.  During  his  thirteen  years'  tenure,  the 
college  advanced  steadily.  The  faculty  increased  in 
numbers  from  seventeen  to  twenty-nine,  and  the 
student  body  reached  its  largest  figure  up  to  that 
time.  Under  him  the  Agricultural  College  and  the 
Thayer  School  of  Civil  Engineering  were  established, 
three  new  buildings  were  erected,  the  elective  sys- 
tem was  begun  —  "  in  a  limited  and  cautious  use  ", 
as  the  trustees  half-affrightedly  put  it  —  but  still 
begun.  A  system  of  alumni  nominations  for  trustees 
was  inaugurated,  thus  paving  the  way  for  that  in- 
timate relation  between  Dartmouth  men  and  the 
government  of  their  college  which  is  excelled  in  the 
case  of  no  other  institution. 


182 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    MAN    OF    IRON 

THE  successor  to  President  Smith  was  Reverend 
Samuel  Colcord  Bartlett,  D.  D.,  of  the  class 
of  1836.  At  the  time  of  his  election  in  January, 
1877,  he  was  one  of  the  leading  professors  in  the 
Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  orthodox  to  the 
core.  Had  the  trustees  searched  the  world  for  a 
more  absolute  opposite  to  Doctor  Smith,  they 
could  not  have  found  the  man.  Short  in  stature, 
swift  in  motion,  incisive  in  speech,  imperious  in 
will,  brilliant  in  intellect,  courageous  in  convictions, 
he  presented  a  contrast  to  his  urbane,  tactful,  pacific 
predecessor  that  was  soon  to  startle  the  little  college 
world  to  which  he  came. 

Had  the  slang  been  invented  in  his  day,  Doctor 
Bartlett  would  doubtless  have  been  called  a  "  live 
wire."  He  was  charged  with  the  electricity  of  per- 
sonality that  attracted  seme  and  repelled  others. 
At  times  it  was  unpleasant  to  handle  him  without 
insulation.  But  his  dearest  enemy  would  not  have 
accused  him  of  lacking  brains  or  force,  and  few 
to-day  would  deny  that  he  believed  in  Dartmouth, 

183 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

as  he  believed  in  himself,  and  was  sincerely  devoted 
to  her  interests  as  he  saw  them. 

In  the  mellowing  process  of  the  years,  the  con- 
troversy that  raged  about  him  is  now  seen  to  have 
been  of  much  less  importance  in  principle  than  it 
seemed  to  the  spectators  of  the  drama  in  the  "  eight- 
ies." It  was  a  thunder-storm  that  cleared  the  air, 
dispelled  the  perfervid  heat,  and  brought  the  rain- 
bow of  promise  for  the  immediate  years  to  come. 
But  it  naturally  seemed  very  tragic  while  it  lasted. 

The  mutterings  preliminary  to  the  tempest  began 
to  be  heard  soon  after  President  Bartlett  entered 
upon  his  term  of  office.  Curiously  enough,  the 
small  and  then  comparatively  unimportant  scientific 
.school,  founded  with  old  Abiel  Chandler's  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  in  1851,  was  the  storm-cloud.  Presi- 
dent Bartlett,  a  severe  classicist,  was  temperamen- 
tally incapable  of  feeling  any  liking  for  this  depart- 
ment. He  believed  that  it  was  living  beyond  its 
means,  that  it  was  getting  too  "  hifalutin  "  in  its 
curriculum  and  that  it  was  "  sapping  "  the  college 
by  hiring  the  latter's  instructors  for  extra  work  at 
small  pay.  He  was  doubtless  jealous  of  its  fine  ap- 
pearance on  paper,  for,  with  the  names  of  the  special 
instructors  from  the  college  added  to  its  own,  the 
list  in  the  annual  catalogue  was  more  imposing  than 
that  of  the  college  itself. 

184 


THE   MAN   OF  IRON 

Promptly  the  new  president  took  action.  He  had 
the  members  of  the  academic  faculty  withdrawn 
from  their  "  extras  "  in  the  Chandler  School  —  they 
received  two  dollars  an  hour  for  the  work  —  and  a 
long  and  bitter  contest  was  instituted  as  to  the 
Chandler  curriculum.  The  men  of  the  latter  in- 
stitution arose  in  arms  at  once;  they  thought  the 
president  was  set  upon  degrading  them  and  their 
school.  The  college  faculty  was  split  into  two 
camps,  one  —  by  far  the  larger  —  disliking  Doctor 
Bartlett  for  his  uncompromising  style  and  his  per- 
emptory way  of  cutting  off  their  means  of  increasing 
their  slender  earnings,  the  other  intensely  loyal  to 
him  because  of  that  magnetism  that  attracted  some 
of  his  support. 

Bitter  speeches,  unjust  charges,  fiery  literature, 
and  pungent  pictures  soon  made  Hanover  a  some- 
what too  exciting  seat  for  a  college.  Naturally,  the 
students  were  uneasy,  fractious  and  ill-behaved. 
For  the  Aegis,  the  junior  illustrated  annual,  the 
class  of  '84  obtained  the  services  of  Puck's  greatest 
artist  and  printed  a  full-page  colored  cartoon  of  a 
dog-fight,  with  President  Bartlett  as  the  central 
figure,  flanked  by  one  or  two  faculty  supporters, 
frightfully  mauling  his  adversaries  and  being  bitten 
by  them  in  turn.  It  was  characteristic  of  the  presi- 
dent, who  had  a  sardonic  brand  of  humor,  that  he 

185 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

was  not  at  all  outraged  by  this  masterpiece,  pri- 
vately declaring  that  he  could  not  complain  very 
much,  since  he  was  depicted  as  the  winning  dog, 
par  excellence. 

Naturally,  the  trustees  were  distressed  at  this 
quarrel,  which  was  fast  outgrowing  the  bounds  of 
the  college.  But,  though  they  employed  their  ablest 
and  most  generally  successful  pacificator,  Reverend 
Alonzo  H.  Quint,  D.  D.,  to  try  and  bring  peace 
to  the  hostiles,  they  were  for  some  time  unsuc- 
cessful. 

The  alumni  now  began  to  assail  the  president 
violently,  and  on  April  7,  1881,  the  association  at 
New  York  voted  to  ask  the  trustees  to  investigate 
the  civil  warfare.  On  April  29,  sixteen  of  the  twenty- 
three  resident  members  of  the  faculty  signed  a  paper 
demanding  Doctor  Bartlett's  resignation.  They 
declined,  however,  to  make  any  specific  charges 
against  him,  although  given  opportunity  by  the 
trustees.  The  New  York  alumni  were  not  so  cir- 
cumspect. They  formulated,  in  a  style  that  is  now 
seen  to  have  been  coarse  and  needlessly  insulting, 
the  following  accusations: 

First.  That  said  Bartlett  by  his  habitually  insolent, 
discourteous  and  dictatorial  manner  in  official  intercourse 
with  his  associate  members  of  the  Faculty  has  stifled  all 
free  and  independent  discussion  of  college  matters  and 

186 


THE   MAN   OF  IRON 

that  he  has  illegally  ignored  and  usurped  the  functions 
of  the  Faculties  of  various  departments  of  the  College. 

Second.  That  said  Bartlett  has  deliberately  and  in- 
tentionally imperiled  the  influence  of  the  Faculty  with 
the  students  and  has  improperly  endeavored  to  bring 
certain  members  into  disgrace  in  the  eyes  of  the  students 
and  the  public. 

Third.  That  said  Bartlett  has  persistently  and  sys- 
tematically exerted  his  official  influence  to  impair  and 
diminish  the  prosperity  of  the  different  Departments  of 
the  College. 

Fourth.  That  in  his  public  official  relations  to  the 
students  said  Bartlett  has  used  such  language  as  to  neces- 
sarily humiliate  and  disgrace  them  and  graduate  them  as 
enemies  instead  of  friends  of  the  College. 

Fifth.  That  said  Bartlett  has  so  far  lost  the  con- 
fidence of  his  associate  members  of  the  Faculty  that  out 
of  a  total  membership  of  twenty-three  residents  sixteen 
openly  express  the  belief  that  the  best  interests  of  the 
College  require  his  resignation. 

The  president's  trial  —  for  it  was  almost  that  in 
character,  and  was  conducted  against  him  by  Judge 
William  Fullerton,  of  New  York,  for  the  alumni,  in 
the  manner  of  a  case  against  a  common  pickpocket, 
until  the  eminent  criminal  lawyer  was  savagely 
rebuked  by  the  great  New  Hampshire  barrister, 
Harry  Bingham,  for  the  president  —  was  held  in' 
Hanover  on  June  17  and  on  July  12.  Doctor  Bart- 
lett won  decisively.  "  While  the  charges  ",  said  the 
committee  in  its  report  to  the  trustees,  "  were 

187 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

serious,  the  specifications  were  inadequate,  many  of 
them  trivial,  nearly  half  of  them  were  withdrawn, 
and  as  a  whole  unsupported  by  adequate  proof  of 
any  important  error.  .  .  .  The  committee  do  not 
think  that  the  formal  investigation  has  disclosed 
any  results  which  sustain,  so  far  as  acts  and  words 
go,  a  claim  that  there  should  be  a  change  of  office." 
At  this  rebuff,  fifteen  hostiles  of  the  faculty  ten- 
dered their  resignations.  The  trustees  refused  to 
accept  them.  There  was  no  secession.  Still  the 
outside  world  believed  that  the  president  was  under 
pressure  from  the  trustees  to  retire,  so  that  in  April, 
1882,  the  latter  thought  it  wise  to  announce  the 
following: 

To  put  at  rest  the  disquieting  rumors  that  have  been 
circulated,  to  the  effect  that  the  Trustees  desire  the 
resignation  of  President  Bartlett, 

Resolved.  That  we  put  on  record  the  expression  of  our 
continued  confidence  in  him  as  an  able,  efficient  adminis- 
trator, and  an  admirable  instructor  and  we  believe  that 
the  best  interests  of  the  College  require  that  he  should 
continue  in  his  present  position. 

Resolved.  That  we  believe  that  the  best  interests  of 
the  College  require  that  the  members  of  the  Faculty 
•should  continue  in  their  present  positions  and  cordially 
co-operate  in  advancing  the  true  interests  of  the  College. 

The  acute  stage  of  the  quarrel  gradually  passed 
away,  and  the  stalwart  old  president  ruled  with 

188 


. 


The  Tower 


THE   MAX   OF  IRON 

more  modified  power  for  ten  years  longer.  In  spite 
of  the  battle  against  him,  in  spite  of  his  unpopu- 
larity at  the  time  of  the  fiercest  tilts,  his  adminis- 
tration was  fruitful.  He  obtained  the  gift  of  a  new 
chapel  from  Edward  Ashton  Rollins,  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  was  instrumental  in  raising  considerable 
money  for  new  professorships.  The  Wilson  Library 
was  built  during  his  reign,  and  to  his  genius  for 
rugged  effect  is  due  the  fine  stone  tower  at  the  top 
of  Observatory  Hill,  to  the  building  of  which  stu- 
dents from  '85  to  '95  actually  contributed  a  deal  of 
back-breaking  toil.  He  was  prime  mover  in  the 
improvement  of  the  enchanting  park  near  by,  con- 
vincing the  undergraduates  that  labor  donated  to 
road  and  path  making  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday 
half-holidays  would  be  amply  repaid  in  the  days  to 
come  —  as  it  has  been.  He  devised  the  method  of 
moving  the  sixty  thousand  books  of  the  library  from 
their  perilous  quarters  in  Reed  Hall  to  the  new 
building  —  a  long  procession  of  hand-barrows  with 
a  student  at  the  end  of  each  one,  by  means  of  which 
the  entire  literary  load  was  transferred  in  four  days, 
every  man  in  college  having  a  finger  in  the  business. 
As  has  been  observed,  "  Prexy  "  Bartlett  had  a 
caustic  wit.  Some  sophomores  once  conceived  and 
put  into  execution  the  brilliant  coup  of  installing  a 
donkey  at  his  desk  just  before  some  exercises  in  "  Old 

189 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

Chapel."  Upon  ascending  the  steps  of  the  platform 
and  finding  the  visitor  tied  to  his  chair,  the  president 
was  expected  to  show  some  confusion.  But  confu- 
sion and  he  were  never  intimate.  Piercing  the  rows 
of  "  Sophs  "  with  his  penetrating  glance,  he  ob- 
served icily:  "  Young  gentlemen,  when  you  have 
removed  your  brother  from  the  platform,  the  exer- 
cises will  proceed." 

Such  a  man  was  naturally  his  own  dean,  proctor, 
and  private  detective.  He  believed  in  the  argu- 
mentum  ad  hominem  that  consisted  of  mingling 
valiantly  in  a  "  rush  "  and  extracting  men  from  the 
same  by  their  coat  collars.  He  was  an  intimate 
president,  who  had  the  habit  of  occasionally  materi- 
alizing in  a  student's  room  to  catch  him  in  some 
particularly  obnoxious  devilry.  A  man  of  iron  in  an 
iron  age.  A  man  who  fitted  absolutely  the  aca- 
demic landscape  of  his  time.  It  was  he  who  began 
the  early  foundations  of  the  new  Dartmouth,  and 
though  his  faults  of  temperament  and  style  be 
admitted,  the  fair-minded  of  to-day  recognize  the 
value  of  his  work. 

Looking  backward,  it  is  clear  to  see  that  the  Dart- 
mouth student  of  these  roaring  "  eighties  "  imbibed 
something  of  the  rugged  nature  of  his  environment. 
He  was  a  more  self-assertive  gentleman  than  is  his 
descendant  and  champion  of  college  honor  to-day. 

190 


THE   MAX   OF   IRON 

He  realized,  by  some  subtle  instinct,  that  he  was  the 
ultimate  product  of  the  fast  disappearing  Iron  Age 
of  Hanover.  His  swagger  was  more  genuine,  his 
contempt  for  the  niceties  of  the  sartorial  science 
more  profound  and  consistent.  An  ulster,  concealing 
who  may  now  say  what  lack  of  apparel  under  its 
garishly  sheltering  folds,  was  not  merely  a  help  to 
morning  devotions  —  it  also  typified  a  superb  in- 
difference to  small  conventions  in  the  way  of  dress. 
A  celluloid  collar  was  not  only  an  embodied  economy 
-  it  was  also  a  shining  defiance  to  laundries,  their 
uses  and  'abuses. 

Whether  this  inherent  opposition  to  the  finer 
things  of  life  was  a  disadvantage,  or  not,  it  is  dim- 
cult  to  say.  We  now  know  that  it  was  but  tempo- 
rary, and  most  Dartmouth  men  of  that  period  are 
so  satisfied  to  have  been  a  part  of  those  glorious  days 
that  not  for  the  great  gift  of  another  youth  would 
they  lose  their  memories  to  become  merged  in  the 
golden  epoch  of  the  present  Dartmouth.  And  they 
like  to  think  that  the  irori  has  not  passed  away,  but 
that  it  still  stands,  a  firm  and  imperishable  basis 
for  the  ornamentation  of  the  gold. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  in  this  seemingly  un- 
promising epoch  blossomed  a  literary  garden  such 
as  had  not  been  previously  known  in  the  College. 
More  men  began  to  write,  and  write  better,  than 

191 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

ever  before.  Some  of  their  work  was,  naturally, 
imitative;  some  was  strongly  original;  but  all  of 
it  was  an  honest  and  refreshing  departure  from  the 
ponderous,  pseudo-classical  bombast  of  preceding 
years. 

Several  elements,  apart  from  the  natural  bent  of 
men  who  happened  to  come  to  Dartmouth  at  that 
time,  were  responsible  for  this  awakening.  The 
influence  of  Arthur  Sherburne  Hardy,  then  pro- 
fessor of  mathematics,  who  had  just  leaped  into 
fame  with  his  "  But  Yet  A  Woman  ",  was  potent. 
The  inspiring  work  of  the  lamented  Charles  F. 
Richardson,  professor  of  English  literature,  was 
becoming  more  and  more  fruitful.  The  Dartmouth 
Literary  Monthly  came  into  being  and  furnished  a 
sympathetic  outlet  for  the  product  of  aspiring 
authors.  The  whole  atmosphere  seemed  suddenly 
charged  with  the  impulse  to  write. 

Perhaps  the  genius  of  Richard  Hovey,  who  wove 
his  spell  about  the  ancient  halls  and  the  more  ancient 
hills  and  dales  of  Hanover  in  the  early  "  eighties  ", 
was  the  most  powerful  incentive  to  serious  literary 
attempts  by  many  of  his  confreres.  His  personality 
had  an  amazing  appeal.  The  writer  of  this  "  Story  " 
thus  set  down  his  recollections  of  the  poet  as  a 
student  for  the  Dartmouth  Magazine  of  June,  1905 :  - 

"  It  was  on  a  beautiful  and  balmy  evening  in 
192 


THE   MAN   OF  IRON 

early  September  on  the  campus  of  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege that  I  first  knew  I  saw  Richard  Hovey.  I  say 
'  knew  '  because,  as  I  look  back  upon  those  days  of 
romance  and  the  flush  of  youth,  it  seems  to  me  that 
it  must  have  been  impossible  not  to  have  noticed 
in  the  old  chapel  or  out  under  the  elms  that  sturdy 
figure  and  that  dark  and  handsome  face  that  no 
man  could  look  at  and  pass  unheeding  by.  I  must 
have  been  attracted  by  the  great,  liquid  eyes;  the 
black,  curling  beard,  common  enough  with  young 
collegians  in  the  roaring  '  eighties  ',  and  the  mag- 
nificent, leonine  head  set  on  the  shoulders  in  the 
manner  of  a  piece  of  classic  statuary.  Spite  of  my 
Freshman  woes,  my  settled  conviction  that  I  had 
sunk  lower  than  ever  mortal  man  had  sunk  before, 
I  am  sure  that  the  wonderful  personality  of  Richard 
Hovey  must  have  been  a  part  of  my  picture  of  the 
new  and  academic  world. 

"  But  on  the  evening  of  which  I  speak  my  impres- 
sions of  Hove}"  were  positive  and  never  to  be  effaced. 
The  dreadful  Sophomores  had,  a  little  after  supper, 
gathered  on  the  big  green  and  were  shouting  coarse 
and  unmannerly  invitations  to  us,  the  still  un- 
swaddled  class  of  '87,  to  come  forth  with  our  rubber 
football.  We  came,  we  saw,  we  —  fought.  By  no 
means  a  doughty  warrior  myself,  I  was  at  last  flung 
off  the  periphery  of  the  struggling  human  wheel  and 

193 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

deposited  not  over-gently  on  the  turf.  As  I  paused 
for  a  moment  to  reconnoitre,  I  heard  in  a  most 
melodious  and  eloquent  voice  this  adjuration: 

"  '  Up,  boy,  and  at  them!  ' 

"  Such  a  command,  a  sort  of  cross  between  the 
genial  request  of  old  Horace  for  more  Falernian  and 
the  order  of  a  French  marshal  to  his  troops,  was  in- 
teresting. The  man  who  made  it  was  more  so.  To 
my  young  fancy  he  seemed  Alcibiades  turned  cowboy. 
He  wore  a  dark  blue  flannel  shirt,  fastened  at  the 
neck  with  a  great,  black  bow,  and  his  remarkably 
handsome  head  and  face  were  set  off  by  a  grey  felt 
hat  with  a  flaring,  bandit-like  brim.  Tweed  trou- 
sers were  tucked  into  long  riding  boots,  immacu- 
lately polished.  Surely  the  '  groves  of  the  academy  ', 
as  President  Lord  used  to  delight  to  call  Dartmouth, 
had  never  seen  such  a  figure  before,  I  thought.  But 
I  was  wrong.  They  had  seen  Richard  Hovey  fcr 
two  years,  and  he  was  now  a  Junior,  urging  unin- 
spired Freshmen  into  the  fray. 

'"  We  soon  came  to  know  that  Hovey  was  a  man 
like  no  other.  He  was  eccentric,  bizarre  perhaps, 
but  he  stood  for  the  beginning  of  the  literary  re- 
naissance at  Dartmouth,  that  was  to  make  the 
period  from  '83  to  '93,  approximately,  somewhat 
noteworthy  in  the  history  of  the  College.  As  he 
became  in  after  years  by  far  the  greatest  poet  that 

194 


Dartmouth  has  produced,  so  was  he  in  his  Hanover 
days  by  far  the  most  essentially  poetic  and  fasci- 
nating personality  that  ever  dreamed  away  the 
spring-time  under  the  old  trees.  There  were  those 
who  believed  him  mildly  insane;  sage  townsmen, 
from  behind  the  safe  ramparts  of  their  prosaic 
counters,  would  tap  their  foreheads  after  he  had 
left  their  stores  with  a  jest  they  could  not  under- 
stand and  a  bit  of  the  blossoming  of  a  thought  that 
must  have  seemed  to  them  miles  away  in  the  skies. 
Afterward  they  came  to  know  the  truth  and  were, 
to  a  man,  proud  of  their  acquaintance  with  '  Sir 
Richard.' 

'  The  College  love  that  always  thrilled  the  warm 
heart  and  the  great  brain  of  the  man  was  a  notable 
emotion  of  his  student  days.  First  of  all,  I  think, 
came  the  beauty  of  the  region  that  encircles  our 
Dartmouth.  Four  years  of  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  hills  and  valleys,  the  forests  and  ledges 
roundabout  implanted  within  him  a  passionate 
affection  that  never  cooled.  He  was  an  inveterate 
wanderer,  and  his  wooing  of  nature  did  not  always 
please  that  jealous  mistress,  the  College  corporate. 
But  in  the  end  it  did  more  .to  reflect  glory  upon 
Dartmouth  than  anything  of  perfection  he  could 
have  attained  in  any  of  his  classrooms." 

In  the  Bartlett  period,  the  long-continued  pres- 
195 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

sure  from  the  alumni  for  genuine  representation 
in  the  board  of  trustees  came  to  a  focus  and  won  a 
great  victory.  The  sons  of  the  college  were  dis- 
satisfied with  the  compromise  of  1876  by  which  the 
trustees  had  agreed  that  the  next  three  vacancies 
in  the  board  were  to  be  filled  by  alumni  nomination, 
and  that  from  the  first  four  names  certified  by  the 
alumni  the  trustees  "  ordinarily  and,  in  all  proba- 
bility, invariably  "  would  elect  a  man.  This  plan 
did  not  provide  for  continued  and  intimate  repre- 
sentation, as  the  three  were  elected  for  life.  The 
alumni  insisted  upon  short  terms  for  men  elected 
absolutely  by  their  own  votes. 

There  was  some  notion  of  obtaining  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  trustees  by  act  of  legislature,  but 
the  spectre  of  the  great  "  Case  "  was  still  too  dis- 
couraging for  that  experiment,  since  the  charter 
said  in  English  that  could  hardly  be  mistaken: 
"  The  whole  number  of  said  Trustees  consisting 
and  hereafter  forever  to  consist  of  Twelve  and  no 
more."  An  act  enlarging  the  board  to  seventeen 
members  was,  indeed,  passed,  but  conditioned  on 
its  acceptance  by  the  trustees,  which  was  never 
voted. 

After  a  lively  campaign  of  debates,  addresses, 
resolutions,  and  letters,  the  alumni  at  the  Com- 
mencement of  1891  came  to  an  agreement  with  the 

196 


THE   MAN   OF  IRON 

trustees  by  which  they  were  empowered  to  nominate 
"  a  suitable  person  "  for  each  of  the  five  trusteeships 
next  becoming  vacant  and  the  successors  to  those 
offices.  Thus  there  have  ever  since  been  five  alumni 
trustees  in  the  board,  each  holding  his  place  for 
five  years  (usually  re-elected)  and  one  resigning  each 
year.  The  plan  has  worked  with  the  smoothness  of 
fine  machinery;  the  personnel  of  the  board  has  been 
broadened  and  strengthened,  and  the  interest  and 
loyalty  of  the  sons  of  Dartmouth  have  been  enor- 
mously increased.  Feeling  that  they  are  helping 
to  run  their  own  college,  the  alumni  have  tided  the 
institution  over  many  a  crisis,  giving  generously  of 
time,  money,  and  moral  support. 

In  February,  1892,  President  Bartlett  resigned. 
He  was  no  longer  under  fire,  and  he  wanted  to  do 
"  certain  special  literary  work."  The  trustees,  in 
agreeing  to  his  retirement,  paid  tribute  to  "  his 
unsurpassed  energy  in  administration,  his  untiring 
and  incessant  labors,  and  his  undoubted  love  and 
devotion  to  the  College."  "  During  his  presi- 
dency ",  they  said,  "  the  tone  and  standard  of 
scholarship  has  been  raised;  the  range  and  choice 
of  studies  has  been  broadened  and  extended.  The 
number  -of  professors  in  the  College  and  various  de- 
partments has  been  increased  from  twenty-one  to 
thirty-four;  new  college  buildings  have  been  erected; 

197 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

the  library  has  been  enlarged  from  54,000  to  72,000 
volumes;  and  the  friends  of  the  College  have  con- 
tributed to  its  funds  —  including  that  given  for 
lands  and  buildings  —  over  $700,000;  and  during 
this  period  all  the  funds  of  the  College  have  been 
scrupulously  kept  to  the  purposes  for  which  they 
were  given." 

The  alert,  sinewy  figure  of  the  rugged  old  man  was 
familiar  in  Hanover  for  six  years  more.  Often  it 
was  mounted  on  a  bicycle,  which  the  ex-president 
rode  gallantly  and  well  up  to  his  eightieth  year. 
Occasionally  it  was  seen  in  the  lecture-room,  where 
the  keen  intellect,  unclouded  always,  revelled  in 
presenting  to  the  students  its  orthodox  conceptions 
of  the  relation  of  the  Bible  to  science  and  history. 
Even  in  the  mellower  sunshine  of  the  New  Dart- 
mouth this  strong  character  was  found  fighting  to 
the  end  with  the  ancient  sword  of  Gideon  for  a  faith 
that  was  wearing  away. 


198 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE    GREAT    AWAKENING 

THERE  have  been  three  "  Great  Awakenings  " 
having  to  do  with  Dartmouth  College.  The 
first,  pre-natal,  but  with  strong  influence  upon  the 
academic  child,  was  the  "  Great  Awakening  "  that 
George  Whitefield's  revivalistic  fireworks  brought 
to  the  arousing  of  men's  consciences  in  the  New 
England  colonies  of  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  this  work  Whitefield  and  Eleazar 
Wheelock  came  together;  without  it  Occom  and 
Whitaker  might  never  have  been  sent  to  England, 
and  certainly  could  not  so  successfully  have  reached 
the  seats  and  pockets  of  the  mighty,  had  they  gone 
at  all. 

The  "Great  Awakening"  of  July,  1851,  already 
referred  to  as  the  most  dreadful  concatenation  of 
ear-piercing  and  nerve-racking  sounds  from  instru- 
ments of  torture  ever  known  in  Hanover,  was  a 
manifestation  of  youthful  wrath  at  what  was  con- 
ceived to  be  faculty  tyranny,  and  is  worth  this 
paragraph  only  because  of  the  grim  jocosity  of  its 
significant  name. 

199 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

The  third  "  Great  Awakening  "  for  the  college 
was  the  administration  of  President  Tucker.  It 
came  without  pomp  of  declaration,  without  sound 
of  trumpets,  without  hint  of  fire  and  sword.  But 
in  and  out  of  the  college,  men  soon  knew  that  it  had 
arrived. 


When  President  Bartlett  gave  the  trustees  the 
opportunity  of  saying  complimentary  things  about 
him  —  and  with  sincerity  —  he  also  gave  them  the 
way,  as  it  seemed,  to  name  the  one  who  was  even 
then  most  in  Dartmouth  men's  hearts  as  he  who 
should  come  to  the  succession.  Reverend  William 
Jewett  Tucker,  '61,  had  been  a  wise,  far-seeing, 
brilliant  trustee  since  1878.  He  had  won  fame  as  a 
sound,  forceful,  fascinating  preacher.  He,  too,  was 
urban,  as  all  the  presidents  since  Nathan  Lord  have 
now  been.  As  professor  of  sacred  rhetoric  at  the 
Andover  Theological  Seminary,  he  was  leading  the 
fight  on  the  famous  old  "  Hill  "  for  the  "  Andover 
movement  ",  finding  time  also  to  establish  Andover 
House,  now  South  End  House,  one  of  the  early 
social  settlements  in  the  city  of  Boston.  The  charm 
of  his  personality,  the  prophetic  quality  of  his 
wisdom,  and  the  intensity  of  his  interest  in  and 
knowledge  of  Dartmouth  made  him  the  candidate, 

200 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

not  only  of  logic  but  of  sentiment,  for  the  presi- 
dency. He  was  elected  with  complete  unanimity. 

But  he  was  unwilling  to  leave  his  Andover  brother 
knights  in  the  heat  of  their  tourney  against  mediae- 
valism,  and  he  declined.  So  did  Reverend  Francis 
Brown,  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  grandson  of 
Dartmouth's  third  president.  For  the  interim  until 
a  permanent  head  of  the  college  should  be  found, 
Professor  John  K.  Lord  was  made  acting-president. 
He  administered  the  office  with  marked  ability  and 
tact  for  the  complete  college  year  ensuing. 

During  this  period  of  seeking  a  president,  the 
Tucker  feeling,  rebuffed  by  the  very  man  who  em- 
bodied it,  grew  constantly  stronger  and  at  last 
overwhelmed  the  genuine  reluctance  of  the  com- 
manding figure  at  Andover  to  yield  to  it.  Trustees, 
faculty,  alumni,  and  friends  of  the  college  every- 
where urged  upon  Doctor  Tucker  what  they  be- 
lieved was  his  path  of  duty.  A  less  well-poised  man 
would  have  had  his  head  turned  by  this  universal 
demand;  one  of  less  visioning  intellect  would  have 
feared  that  so  much  sunshine  was  ominous  of  some 
later  storm.  It  takes  a  peculiarly  strong  man  to 
enter  upon  a  new  career  and  do  it  justice  amid  the 
salvos  of  universal  acclaim.  If  there  is  any  flaw  in 
his  armor,  the  average  man  tightens  it,  if  thrusts  are 
expected,  but  he  leaves  it  unmended  when  all  is 

201 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

serene.  Doctor  Tucker  never  made  this  mistake; 
he  throve  under  good-will,  but  by  constantly  stri- 
ving to  be  more  worthy  of  it,  not  content  to 
bask  in  its  genial  comfort,  as  he  might  have  done 
indefinitely,  so  uncommon  was  the  power  of  his 
personality. 

It  was  but  a  little  while  after  the  inauguration  of 
President  Tucker,  which  was  happily  on  June  28, 
1893,  that  the  "  Great  Awakening  "  began.  Im- 
mediately, as  if  by  some  widespread  instinct  that  a 
new  force  was  about  to  transform  the  college,  the 
size  of  the  entering  classes  increased.  Freshmen 
outbulked  and  out-cheered  sophomores  in  quick 
succession.  In  1893  the  sheepskin-takers  numbered 
sixty-nine.  In  September  of  the  same  year  one 
hundred  and  twenty  men  entered  college.  In  four 
years  the  senior  output  was  ninety-three  men,  and 
in  ten  years  one  hundred  and  thirty-five.  Students 
poured  into  Hanover  in  a  fashion  that  amazed  the 
ancients  and  put  the  trustees  at  their  wits'  end  to 
find  lodgments  for  the  newcomers.  Dormitories 
were  a  prime  necessity,  and,  as  the  president  and 
trustees  were  set  against  any  private  exploitation  of 
dwelling-places  for  students,  with  power  to  conduct 
them  taken  out  of  their  hands,  the  college  had  to 
build  them.  This  it  began  to  do,  not  as  a  philan- 
thropy but  as  a  business-like  investment  of  funds  in 

202 


THE   GREAT   AWAKENING 

hand  —  a  policy  that  has  continued  to  govern  and 
has  proven  highly  satisfactory. 

As  a  preliminary  step,  the  old  dormitories,  which 
in  1893  could  accommodate  about  two  hundred 
students  in  excessively  Spartan  fashion,  were  made 
a  little  more  habitable.  A  magnificent  water  supply 
system,  by  which  water  was  brought  from  a  little 
artificial  lake  high  among  the  hills  to  the  east,  put 
the  archaic  pumps  out  of  commission  l  and  made 
bathrooms  and  running  water  possible  in  the  build- 
ings. Then  came  the  remodelling  of  "  Bully  " 
Sanborn's  house,  giving  rooms  to  fifty,  and  soon 
after  that  of  Doctor  Dixie  Crosby,  providing  for 
fifty-five  more. 

Still  the  increasing  numbers  hammered  at  the 
gates.  Richardson  Hall,  the  pioneer  of  the  fine 
modern  dormitories,  was  the  answer,  and  again 
fifty-five  students  were  given  quarters.  Not  enough. 
Then  followed,  about  yearly,  the  Fayerweather  Row, 
back  of  Dartmouth,  giving  rooms  for  eighty-five; 
Wheeler,  beautifully  situated  a  little  north  of  the 
chapel,  accommodating  ninety-eight;  Hubbard, 
holding  forty-eight;  Massachusetts,  with  quarters 

1  These  appliances  probably  had  their  own  advantages.  A  Dart- 
mouth man  who  afterward  did  great  things  as  an  amateur  oarsman 
always  maintained  that  his  devotion  to  water  and  the  necessity  of 
getting  it  from  the  campus  pump  for  four  years  was  responsible  for  his 
muscular  development. 

203 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

for  eighty-eight,  and  New  Hampshire,  housing  one 
hundred  and  seven. 

Thus  in  fourteen  years  sprang  up  fourteen  dormi- 
tories, mostly  of  handsome  brick  construction  and 
adding  to  the  capacity  of  Dartmouth  places  for 
seven  hundred  students.  In  all  this  extraordinary 
development,  the  seer-like  wisdom  of  President 
Tucker  showed  unmistakably.  He  advised  —  and 
the  trustees  unhesitatingly  decreed  —  that  even  in 
the  finest  dormitories  small  and  inexpensive  rooms 
should  be  interspersed  with  luxurious  suites,  so  that 
rich  and  poor  should  be  forever  housed  together. 
Dartmouth  has  no  "  Gold  Coast  ";  she  never  will 
have  one.  She  furnishes  fine  quarters  for  fine  birds, 
if  they  care  to  pay  for  them,  but  she  insists  that  their 
next  door  neighbors  be  of  plainer  feather.  For 
kindred  reasons,  classes  are  not  permitted  to  hold 
any  particular  dormitories  en  masse. 

Another  pleasant  adjunct  to  democracy,  though  it 
is  said  to  have  lost  something  of  its  centralizing 
power  of  late,  was  College  Hall,  built  at  a  cost  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  1900. 
This  was,  and  still  is,  the  house  of  the  college  com- 
mons, and  in  the  fine,  oak-raftered  dining-hall  some 
four  hundred  students  stow  away  their  provender 
two  or  three  times  daily  with  more  or  less  speed  and 
with  perhaps  more  than  less  of  the  traditional  and 

204 


. 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

inevitable  grumbling  at  college  fare.  A  la  carte  now 
rules,  after  unsatisfactory  trials  of  a  fixed  price  per 
week  and  of  a  mingling  of  both  systems.  In  the 
basement  a  "  grill  "  caters  to  the  more  irregular 
eaters  and  thrives  on  some  men's  indisposition  to 
quit  their  beds  in  time  for  the  commons'  breakfast. 

A  huge  room  in  this  building  was  fitted  up  in 
club  style,  while  the  broad,  bricked  veranda  in 
front,  dominating  the  most  conspicuous  corner  in 
Hanover,  was  immediately  made  popular  as  an  out- 
of-door  "  lounge."  It  has  parted  with  much  of  this 
distinction  by  reason  of  the  great  increase  in  well- 
equipped  fraternity  houses  of  late;  but  it  is  still  a 
valuable  asset  to  the  college  and  to  the  men  in  it. 

A  few  troublesome  legacies  came  down  from  the 
Bartlett  era  to  engage  President  Tucker.  One  was 
the  prime  casus  belli  of  the  preceding  administra- 
tion, the  relation  of  the  Chandler  School  to  the  col- 
lege. Instead  of  warring  with  the  school,  President 
Tucker  simply  had  it  absorbed  by  the  college  it- 
self, and  all  cause  for  rivalry  and  hard  feeling  at 
once  disappeared.  The  two  faculties  were  united, 
and  the  student  body  henceforth  appeared  as  one. 

Another  question  to  be  settled  was  the  kind  of 
financial  policy  that  should  be  pursued.  The  col- 
lege was  heavily  in  debt  when  President  Tucker 
arrived  and  was  clearly  drifting,  financially.  Doctor 

205 


STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

Tucker  remade  it  in  that  respect.  Gifts  and  be- 
quests he  did  not  despise  —  magnificent  ones  were 
made  during  his  administration,  largely  because  of 
him  —  but  he  held  that  the  business  side  of  the 
college  must  be  modern  and  effective. 

"  Reconstruction  with  a  view  to  expansion  "  was 
the  president's  idea  of  the  making  of  the  new  Dart- 
mouth. He  held  that  in  no  better  way  could  the 
funds  of  the  college  be  invested  than  in  the  things 
the  college  needed.  From  that  principle  arose  the 
great  dormitories,  the  splendid  water-supply  sys- 
tem; an  enormous  central  heating  plant  that  sends 
steam  through  nearly  two  miles  of  underground 
pipes  to  all  the  buildings  around  the  campus,  in  the 
park,  and  to  the  gymnasium;  an  electric-lighting 
plant  that  illuminates  all  the  buildings,  and  a  com- 
prehensive sewerage  system  that  takes  the  place  of 
the  ancient  unsanitary  and  dangerous  appliances 
that  can-  be  spoken  of,  even  now,  only  in  whispers. 
All  these  things  cost  money,  but  as  they  also  saved 
money,  they  were  productive  investments.  Some 
of  them  actually  brought  in  a  profit  revenue.  When 
President  Tucker  wanted  a  thing,  the  wherewithal 
to  get  that  thing  was  always  forthcoming. 

The  spirit  of  the  alumni  toward  this  extraordinary 
administration  was  one  of  admirable  loyalty  and 
generosity.  More  than  once  was  the  latter  quality 

206 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

tested.  In  the  midst  of  a  campaign  for  funds  to 
build  Webster  Hall,  the  stately  auditorium  in 
memory  of  "  Black  Dan  ",  the  telegraph  at  Han- 
over village  flashed  the  sorrowful  news  that  Old 
Dartmouth  Hall,  the  one  link  to  antiquity,  the 
whole  "  College  "  for  so  many  years,  was  on  fire  and 
going  to  its  destruction. 

Before  the  venerable  and  loved  building  was  con- 
sumed, President  Tucker  had  called  a  meeting  of  the 
trustees  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  its  loss;  as  the 
sacred  ashes  still  glowed,  Melvin  O.  Adams,  the 
trustee  living  in  Boston,  sent  to  every  son  of  Dart- 
mouth in  his  region  a  card  upon  which  was  the  now 
historic:  "This  is  not  an  invitation,  but  a  sum- 
mons ",  calling  for  a  meeting  that  same  morning 
in  Lorimer  Hall,  Tremont  Temple.  Four  hundred 
alumni  crowded  the  place  on  this  brief  notice,  and, 
with  a  mighty  shout,  resolved  that  Dartmouth  Hall 
must  be  replaced  immediately.  At  once  a  subscrip- 
tion was  started;  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  build- 
ing was  laid  in  October,  and  the  completed  hall  was 
dedicated  on  February  17,  1906.  In  the  two  years 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  had  been 
given  by  Dartmouth  men  of  all  grades  of  financial 
ability,  and  this  sum  paid  for  Webster  Hall  also. 

Once  more  the  alumni  gave  that  most  convincing 
evidence  of  their  interest  in  the  college  —  the  pocket- 

207 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

book  proof.  For  a  long  time  the  Bissell  Gymnasium 
had  been  but  a  poor  apology  for  a  "  gym  ",  the 
deserved  butt  of  sarcasm  from  Hanoverians  and  the 
outside  philistines  alike.  It  was  seen  that  Dart- 
mouth, with  all  its  growth,  could  not  take  her  place 
in  many  branches  of  athletics,  handicapped  by  such 
a  travesty  of  an  indoor  plant.  From  Professor  John 
W.  Bowler,  physical  director  and  trainer,  came  the 
suggestion  that  the  "  Men  of  Dartmouth  "  be  asked 
to  give  a  new  "  gym."  A  committee  of  alumni  went 
to  work  with  characteristic  Dartmouth  vigor,  and  in 
1909  work  was  begun  on  what  is  at  this  time  the 
largest  and  finest  gymnasium  in  the  world,  built  at 
a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  dollars. 
Some  handsome  individual  gifts  also  made  this 
fruitful  era  of  "  The  Great  Awakening  "  still  more 
notable.  Doctor  Ralph  Butterfield,  '39,  of  Kansas 
City,  left  one  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  dol- 
lars to  the  college,  most  of  which  was  spent  in  erect- 
ing Butterfield  Hall  as  a  museum  of  natural  history, 
archaeology  and  ethnology.  In  1897  ^r-  C.  T. 
Wilder,  of  Olcott,  Vermont,  gave  one  hundred  and 
nine  thousand  dollars,  which  resulted  in  the  physical 
laboratory  named  Wilder  Hall.  Later  this  gentle- 
man gave  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  more.  The 
Fayerweather  bequest  resulted,  after  long  litigation, 
in  $223,381  for  the  college. 

208 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

The  largest  benefactions  of  this,  or  of  all  times,  for 
Dartmouth,  came  from  Edward  Tuck,  of  the  class 
of  1862,  a  millionaire  banker  long  resident  in  Paris. 
In  1899  he  told  President  Tucker  that  he  wished  to 
establish  some  memorial  of  his  father,  Amos  Tuck, 
'35,  and  that  he  had  securities  then  worth  some 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars  with  him  as  a  foun- 
dation. In  making  this  gift  Mr.  Tuck  told  Doctor 
Tucker  that  it  was  "  my  expectation  that  the  pres- 
ent and  future  Trustees  will  apply  a  portion  of  the 
income  to  the  increase  of  existing  salaries  whenever 
the  best  interests  of  the  College  demand  it,  and  a 
portion  of  the  salaries  of  additional  professorships 
which  may  in  the  future  be  established  in  the  College 
proper  or  in  post-graduate  departments,  should  such 
be  added  at  any  time  to  the  regular  college  course." 

In  a  few  years  the  securities  so  grew  in  value  that 
they  were  worth  half  a  million  dollars.  Professors' 
salaries  were  increased  by  two  hundred  dollars  and 
some  money  was  spent  on  the  library,  but  still  the 
greater  part  of  the  income  was  unexpended.  In  the 
year  of  the  gift,  President  Tucker  formulated  a  plan 
for  a  graduate  school  of  preparation  for  the  careers 
of  business,  banking,  and  foreign  commerce.  This 
he  would  call  the  Amos  Tuck  School  of  Administra- 
tion and  Finance.  He  sent  details  of  the  proposition 
to  Paris  and  asked  Mr.  Tuck's  permission  for  this 

209 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

use  of  the  fund.  So  delighted  was  the  banker  that 
he  employed  the  cable  to  carry  back  to  Hanover  his 
swift  "  amen."  A  little  later  he  gave  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  for  a  building  as  the 
home  of  the  institution.  Thus  arose  the  Tuck 
School,  first  of  its  kind  among  the  American  col- 
leges and  remarkably  successful  in  fitting  men  for 
life  outside  the  ancient  professions.  What  it  pur- 
poses to  do  in  its  two-year  course  is  thus  officially 
set  forth: 

The  Tuck  School  aims  to  meet  both  the  increasing 
demand  of  business  men  for  more  efficient  service 
and  the  increasing  demand  of  young  men  about  to 
enter  business  for  training  that  will  enable  them  to 
realize  more  rapid  advancement.  It  aims  to  accom- 
plish this  by  making  it  possible  for  young  men  to  begin 
business  careers  with  the  advantages  that  accompany  a 
disciplined  and  well-informed  mind,  a  general  knowledge 
of  business  conditions  and  methods,  and  a  special  knowl- 
edge of  certain  branches  of  business  which  have  become 
specialized. 

The  School  does  not  presume  to  create  the  genius  for 
business;  it  aims  in  this  respect  to  assist  the  young  man 
to  discover  for  himself  and  combine  into  an  effective  work- 
ing force  such  elements  of  business  ability  as  he  may 
possess.  It  does  not  presume  to  make  of  its  students  men 
of  mature  business  judgment;  in  this  respect  it  aims  to 
equip  its  graduates  with  those  powers  of  analysis  and 
interpretation  necessary  to  the  development  of  sound 
judgment  in  business  experience.  It  does  not  presume 

210 


Tuck  Hall 


THE  GREAT  AWAKENING 

to  create  experts  in  any  particular  line  of  business;  it 
does  aim,  however,  for  many  branches  of  business,  to 
acquaint  its  students  with  those  rudiments  of  expert 
knowledge  familiarity  with  which  makes  the  further 
acquisition  of  expert  knowledge  relatively  easy. 

The  School  does  not  expend  its  energy  teaching  those 
details  of  business  which  can  be  learned  most  quickly 
and  effectively  in  later  experience;  it  is  the  purpose, 
however,  to  develop  for  the  business  world  an  exceptional 
grade  of  raw  material  possessing  the  ability  to  recognize 
the  significance  of  routine  details  in  their  relation  to  the 
organization  and  administration  of  a  business  institu- 
tion. 

But  Mr.  Tuck's  munificence  did  not  stop  at  that 
point.  In  1910  he  gave  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars more  to  the  college,  the  income  to  be  used  for 
the  laudable  and  much-needed  purpose  of  increasing 
the  salaries  of  the  faculty.  He  has  recently  supplied 
the  money  for  the  building  of  the  beautiful  new  road 
through  the  glens  and  woods  of  the  Hitchcock  estate 
to  a  point  near  the  old  wooden  bridge  over  the 
Connecticut.  He  has  given  to  other  needs  as  occa- 
sion has  arisen,  so  that  his  total  contributions  to  the 
advancement  of  his  college  have  been  more  than 
one  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Another  gift  of  large  importance  in  this  golden 
era  was  the  beautiful  and  commodious  administra- 
tion building,  Parkhurst  Hall,  presented  by  Lewis 
Parkhurst,  '78,  and  Mrs.  Parkhurst  as  a  memorial 

211 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

to  their  son,  Wilder  Lewis  Parkhurst,  who  died  at 
the  beginning  of  his  sophomore  year  in  Dartmouth. 
In  this  fine  structure  are  rooms  for  the  president 
and  the  trustees,  and  offices  for  the  treasurer,  the 
business  director,  the  dean,  the  registrar,  the  medi- 
cal director,  the  superintendent  of  buildings,  and 
the  auditor.  A  rear  extension  provides  a  most  ar- 
tistic faculty  room  in  mediaeval,  raftered  style  and 
with  opposing  rows  of  benches  that  suggest  a  small 
parliament  and  that  would  have  been  used,  no 
doubt,  as  government  and  opposition  seats,  had  it 
existed  in  President  Bartlett's  time.  Such  forensic 
tilts  as  now  occur  there  are  warranted  sound  and 
kind. 

Two  festal  occasions  in  Doctor  Tucker's  time 
brought  the  "  old  Grads  "  back  to  Hanover  in 
unusual  numbers  and  in  especially  jovial  mood. 
The  first,  in  September,  1901,  was  the  centennial 
of  the  graduation  of  Daniel  Webster,  at  which  time, 
the  corner-stone  of  Webster  Hall  was  laid  by  Lewis 
Addison  Armistead,  of  Boston,  a  great-grandson  of 
the  statesman.  In  the  college  church  a  remarkably 
penetrating  and  thoughtful  oration  was  delivered 
by  Samuel  W.  McCall,  '74,  of  Massachusetts,  and 
at  the  formal  banquet  which  closed  the  celebration 
and  opened  the  new  dining-hall  in  "  College  ", 
after-dinner  speeches  were  made  by  such  masters 

212 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

in  the  art  as  Edward  Webster  Sanborn,  Doctor 
Francis  Brown,  Judge  David  Cross  —  even  then 
venerable,  but  as  high-spirited  as  a  colt  —  William 
Everett,  Edward  Everett  Hale,  Senator  George 
Frisbie  Hoar,  and  Chief-Justice  Melville  W.  Fuller. 
But  the  part  of  this  anniversary  in  which  every- 
body took  most  delight  was  the  pictorial,  the  night 
parade  of  September  24.  Among  the  great  elms, 
the  largest  of  which  were  banded:  "  We  were  here 
with  Dan  ",  marched  a  picturesque  procession, 
headed  by  a  group  of  alumni  horsemen  of  more  or 
less  certain  seat.  Then  followed  in  order  the  faculty 
in  black  gowns  and  mortar-board  caps;  the  stu- 
dents in  caps  and  gowns  of  white,  blue,  scarlet,  and 
yellow,  according  to  classes;  then  the  large  body  of 
alumni,  every  man  togged  out  in  a  blue  dress-coat, 
buff  waistcoat,  stock,  dicky,  and  Websterian  tall 
hat.  There  were  floats  bearing  Webster's  carriage, 
his  large  Marshfield  plow,  a  reproduction  of  his  room 
showing  his  old  hat,  chair,  and  table,  and  a  minia- 
ture facsimile  of  the  first  college  building.  Up  and 
down  the  ranks  howled  a  band  of  students  dressed 
as  Indians.  The  college  buildings  were  ablaze  with 
electric  lights,  not  so  common  for  exterior  decoration 
then  as  now.  And  if  groups  of  "  Grads  "  concluded 
the  festivities  later  on  with  mild  alcoholic  accesso- 
ries, it  was  not  so  very  inappropriate  to  the  occasion, 

213 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

and  there  were  no  excesses,  as  there  would  have  been, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  a  generation  before. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  of  all  Dartmouth's 
special  occasions  was  the  celebration  incident  to  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  Dartmouth 
Hall  in  October,  1904.  For  this  event  the  college 
was  peculiarly  fortunate,  as  a  matter  of  sentiment, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  sixth  of 
the  title  and  great-great-grandson  of  the  nobleman 
who  befriended  Samson  Occom  and  Nathaniel 
Whitaker  to  such  financial  advantage  in  1766.  The 
Earl,  the  Countess  and  their  daughter,  Lady  Doro- 
thy Legge,  were  given  a  reception  by  the  students 
that  astonished  and  delighted  them.  The  old 
"  Wah-Hoo-Wah  "  cheer  was  roared  forth  for  their 
delectation  upon  every  possible  occasion,  with  or 
without  excuse.  Their  keen  amusement  at  this  es- 
sentially American  bit  of  academic  enthusiasm  was 
apparent. 

On  the  night  of  the  first  day  a  series  of  tableaux 
illustrating  various  events  in  the  history  of  the  col- 
lege was  given  on  a  large  stage  before  the  grand- 
stand of  Alumni  Oval.  Here  again  sentiment  was 
admirably  wedded  to  art,  for  the  Samson  Occom  of 
the  living  pictures  was  Charles  A.  Eastman,  the 
Indian  alumnus  of  1887.  The  scenes  in  detail 
were: 

214 


(i)  Wheelock  receiving  Samson  Occom  at  Lebanon, 
Connecticut,  December  6,  1743;  (2)  Occom  preaching 
in  Whitefield's  Tabernacle,  London;  (3)  First  meeting 
of  Trustees  at  Wyman  Tavern,  Keene,  New  Hampshire, 
October  12,  1770;  (4)  Wheelock  and  his  family  at  Han- 
over, (a)  ten  little  Indians,  (b)  prayers  in  the  forest; 
(5)  The  first  Commencement  at  Dartmouth,  (a)  tub 
scene,  "  500  gallons  of  New  England  rum,"  (b)  Governor 
Wentworth's  visit;  (6)  Return  of  Captain  John  Whee- 
lock and  his  company  after  Burgoyne's  surrender;  (7) 
Defence  of  the  libraries  against  the  university  professors; 
(8)  Daniel  Webster  pleading  the  college  case  at  Washing- 
ton. 

On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-sixth  a  great  crowd 
in  the  church  heard  a  brilliant  historical  address, 
"  The  Origins  of  Dartmouth  College  ",  by  Reverend 
Francis  Bjown,  D.  D.,  and  saw  Lord  Dartmouth 
receive  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D.  In  the  after- 
noon, which  was  stormy,  a  portion  of  the  exercises 
was  again  held  in  the  church,  where  Charles  F. 
Mathewson,  '82,  gave  a  brief,  but  pungent  address, 
and  Lord  Dartmouth  made  a  perfectly  expressed 
little  speech  of  appreciation  for  the  reception  of 
himself  and  his  family.  The  procession  then  moved 
to  Eleazar  Wheelock's  grave,  and  over  that  plain 
old  box  of  stone  President  Tucker  spoke  a  few  words 
in  his  always  inspiring  manner.  A  few  moments 
later  at  the  gaunt  and  ruined  foundations  of  the 
old  Dartmouth  Hall,  the  earl  with  a  silver  trowel 

215 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

pressed  the  mortar  in  place  on  the  corner-stone  of 
the  new.  "  And  now,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  I  declare  this  corner-stone  well 
and  duly  laid.  Floreat  ei  haec  nostra  domus  esto 
perpetua  ",  he  said.  A  gallant  peal  from  the  chapel 
bells  mercifully  drowned  out  the  mutterings  of  the 
assemblage's  endeavors  to  turn  the  strange  language 
into  working  English. 

At  the  inevitable  dinner,  held  in  College  Hall, 
there  was  an  unusual  amount  of  good  talk.  Hon- 
orable Elihu  Root,  President  Eliot  of  Harvard,  Presi- 
dent Tyler  of  William  and  Mary,  Honorable  Charles 
T.  Gallagher,  Governor  Bachelder,  Doctor  Charles 
A.  Eastman  and  Lord  Dartmouth  were  the  speakers. 
President  Tucker  was  at  his  best  as  master  of  the 
toasts.  The  earl,  to  those  who  had  not  known  his 
English  reputation,  was  a  blithesome  surprise  as  a 
wit  on  this  occasion. 

In  all  the  marvelous  material  advance  of  Presi- 
dent Tucker's  administration,  the  problem  of  effi- 
ciency in  scholarship  was  not  neglected.  For  one 
thing,  the  loose  system  of  electives  that  had  let 
men  browse  around  in  totally  disconnected  fields 
was  tightened  very  considerably.  A  so-called 
"  group  "  system  was  adopted  in  1902,  both  as  to 
requirements  for  entrance  to  the  college  and  as  to 
subject  matter  to  be  studied,  once  within  it.  For 

21G 


THE   GREAT   AWAKENING 

the  curriculum,  the  student  was  compelled  to  con- 
tinue in  freshman  year  the  subjects  he  presented  for 
admission;  after  that  year,  he  was  required  to 
arrange  his  electives  among  three  groups,  so  that 
one  subject  known  as  a  "  major  "  should  be  pur- 
sued for  three  years  in  one  group,  and  so  that  one 
subject  called  a  "  minor  "  should  be  pursued  for 
two  years  in  each  of  the  other  two  groups.  This 
made  prescribed  subjects  and  those  restricted  by 
groups  about  forty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  course. 
It  also  brought  every  man's  selected  subjects  into 
some  kind  of  harmonious  whole.  It  gave  him  a 
fairly  free  choice  in  the  kind  of  education  he  wanted, 
but  made  him  stick  to  his  choice. 

Along  with  these  changes  came  the  abandonment 
of  Greek  as  a  requirement  for  admission  or  for  the 
degree  of  A.  B.  The  literature  of  the  Hellenes  was 
decapitated  calmly  and  with  no  resulting  outcry. 
Since  Lord's  or  even  Bartlett's  time,  the  college 
way,  as  the  ways  of  all  other  colleges,  had  traveled 
far  from  the  Acropolis.  Greek  remains,  but  it  is 
rapidly  approaching  practical  oblivion.  There  are 
those  who  mourn  the  decline  of  the  noble  tongue 
and  letters  at  Dartmouth;  but  even  a  strong  col- 
lege cannot  make  the  scholastic  fashions  of  its 
day. 

The  "  Great  Awakening  "  was  a  superb  realization 
217 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

of  the  possibilities  of  Dartmouth  and  of  the  hopes 
of  all  her  sons,  but  it  brought  its  penalties  to  the 
man  from  whose  brain  and  heart  it  had  proceeded. 
In  1907  President  Tucker  found  that  his  physical 
condition  made  rest  imperative.  He  had  labored 
without  stint  and  almost  single-handed  upon  aca- 
demic, financial,  and  administrative  problems.  He 
had  traveled  the  country  over  many  times,  the  in- 
spiring evangel  of  Dartmouth's  message  to  the 
world.  He  had  transformed  Dartmouth  from  a 
small  New  Hampshire  institution  to  a  national  col- 
lege. He  had  seen  the  number  of  undergraduate 
students  rise  from  315  to  1,107,  anc^  tne  total  college 
enrolment  from  431  to  1,233.  He  had  increased  the 
resident  faculty  from  twenty-seven  to  eighty-four, 
and  the  whole  number  of  college  officers  from  forty- 
two  to  one  hundred  and  seven.  He  had  enlarged 
the  plant  from  fifteen  buildings  to  thirty-five,  ex- 
clusive of  many  houses  in  the  village  built  or  bought 
for  faculty  residences. 

He  had  beautified  and  improved  the  college  settle- 
ment to  an  astonishing  degree.  He  had  enlarged 
the  invested  funds  by  nearly  two  million  dollars  and 
the  value  of  the  plant  by  nearly  a  million  and  a  half. 
And  he  had  created  among  the  alumni,  always  no- 
tably loyal,  a  new  spirit  of  unification,  of  sacrifice, 
of  intense  devotion  to  and  pride  in  the  college  that 

218 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

Dartmouth  men  believe  has  no  counterpart  any- 
where. 

But  the  price  of  this  great  service  was  loss  of 
health,  and  in  March,  1907,  Doctor  Tucker  pre- 
sented his  resignation  to  the  trustees,  consenting, 
however,  to  remain,  with  lessened  duties,  until  a 
successor  could  be  found.  No  one  available  appear- 
ing within  two  years,  the  president  was  imperative 
that  his  resignation  be  accepted. 

In  June,  1909,  the  trustees  chose  Ernest  Fox 
Nichols,  a  distinguished  investigator  in  experimental 
physics,  whose  work  was  known  to  both  hemi- 
spheres, as  president.  Doctor  Nichols  was  then  a 
professor  in  Columbia,  but  he  knew  Dartmouth 
well,  having  occupied  the  chair  of  physics  in  the 
college  from  1898  to  1903. 

Doctor  Nichols  was  inducted  into  office  October 
10,  1909,  in  Webster  Hall,  and  for  the  first  time  a 
Dartmouth  inauguration  became  an  event  of  na- 
tional academic  importance.  Delegates  from  ninety- 
five  universities,  colleges,  and  other  institutions  of 
learning,  saw  the  new  president  receive  the  ancient 
charter,  once  held  so  firmly  in  Eleazar  Wheelock's 
grasp,  and  the  Governor  John  Wentworth  silver 
punch-bowl  of  fragrant  memory,  but  departed 
glory.  Never  had  the  old  town  even  dreamed  of 
such  a  riot  of  color,  such  a  human  kaleidoscope,  as 

219 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

wound  and  swayed  across  the  campus  with  the 
procession  of  learned  gentlemen  wearing  their 
doctors'  caps,  gowns,  and  hoods.  To  the  small  boys 
of  Hanover,  it  was  a  revelation  of  the  utmost  glories 
to  which  finite  beings  might  attain;  to  the  men  of 
Dartmouth,  it  was  a  testimony  of  the  new  rank  to 
which  the  "  Great  Awakening  "  had  brought  their 
college,  the  world's  "  growing  conception  ",  as 
Woodrow  Wilson  put  it  in  speaking  of  Doctor 
Tucker,  "  of  what  the  character  and  power  of  a 
single  man  can  do." 

On  this  occasion,  Presidents  Schurman,  of  Cor- 
nell; Van  Hise,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin; 
Finley,  of  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York; 
Hyde,  of  Bowdoin;  Buckham,  of  the  University  of 
Vermont;  Faunce,  of  Brown;  Butler,  of  Columbia; 
Wilson,  of  Princeton;  Hadley,  of  Yale;  Lowell,  of 
Harvard,  and  Eliot,  emeritus;  Angell,  ex-President 
of  Michigan;  Doctor  Tucker  and  Governor  Quinby 
were  made  Doctors  of  Law.  Rarely  had  any  plat- 
form borne  so  distinguished  a  company  of  men.  It 
is  interesting  to  recall  now  the  words  of  Doctor 
Nichols  in  presenting  one  of  the  degrees :  "  Woodrow 
Wilson,  lawyer,  historian,  student  of  politics,  man 
of  great  strength  of  purpose." 

The  years  are  slipping  away  since  that  day,  also 
made  notable  by  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of 

220 


THE   GREAT  AWAKENING 

the  new  gymnasium.  The  college,  with  President 
Nichols  as  its  able  and  sympathetic  head,  is  still 
gaining  prestige  and  strength.  More  men  are  com- 
ing to  it;  new  buildings  are  arising  for  it;  its  re- 
sources are  increasing.  It  has  a  plant  valued  in 
1913  at  $2,472,532,  and  total  assets  of  $5,450,281. 
Its  annual  cost  of  administration  is  only  $36,605, 
which,  reckoned  as  a  percentage  of  the  total  busi- 
ness carried  on,  is  smaller  than  that  of  any  other 
prominent  college  in  the  country.  That  this  means 
economy  with  no  loss  of  efficiency,  any  intelligent 
survey  of  the  condition  of  things  at  Hanover  proves 
beyond  question.  The  ancient  strength  is  unabated; 
the  modern  note  is  but  its  finer  and  larger  expres- 
sion. 


221 


CHAPTER  XIII 


Men  of  Dartmouth,  set  a  watch 
Lest  the  old  traditions  fail! 

SO  wrote  the  laureate  of  the  college  out  of  the  in- 
spiration of  his  great  love  for  Dartmouth.  We 
know  and  he  knew  that  some  of  the  old  traditions 
ought  to  have  failed;  as  they  have.  But  his  mean- 
ing no  Dartmouth  man  misses. 

All  colleges  have  their  peculiar  traditions;  even 
the  younger  are  rapidly  making  them  from  customs 
that,  because  of  the  constantly  shifting  population 
of  students,  seem  ancient  in  a  few  years.  It  is  very 
noticeable  that  what  a  class  begins  to  do  often 
seems  to  have  been  done  always;  and,  conversely, 
that  it  not  seldom  believes  it  has  originated  some 
custom  that  really  is  hoary  with  age.  It  is,  therefore, 
difficult  to  place  a  college  tradition,  to  give  it  accu- 
rate age  or  even  any  dignity. 

But  Dartmouth  has  a  varied  and  interesting  store- 
house of  traditions,  which  deserve  the  name  because 

222 


'THE   OLD  TRADITIONS" 

of  their  very  disappearance  into  obscurity.  Such 
is  the  tradition  of  the  Old  Pine.  It  was  a  pleasant 
tale  that  came  down  from  the  past  —  how  the  red- 
skin graduates  of  the  days  when  the  "  whole  curricu- 
lum was  five  hundred  gallons  of  New  England  rum  " 
were  accustomed,  at  Commencement,  to  smoke  their 
peace  pipes  or  dance  around  the  lordly  trunk  of  the 
tree  that  dominated  the  hill  behind  the  college  for 
so  many  years.  The  tradition  was  fit  enough  to  be 
true,  and  perhaps  it  was.  Doctor  J.  W.  Barstow,  / 
'46,  says  of  the  Old  Pine  that  "  its  worship  did  not  \ 
begin  until  1848  or  '49."  The  first  recorded  exercise 
around  the  tree  was  at  Class  Day  in  1854,  when  the 
graduates,  sitting  about  the  base,  heard  an  oration 
and  a  poem.  From  that  day  until  the  fall  of  th( 
splendid  old  monarch  in  1895,  graduating  classes 
smoked  the  final  pipe  around  the  tree,  dashing  theif 
clays  against  its  trunk  as  a  parting  tribute.  The 
custom  is  continued  at  its  stump,  which  is  carefully 
preserved. 

Fagging  is  a  tradition  that  has  had  the  curious 
fate  at  Hanover  of  having  long  existed,  of  having 
died,  and  then  of  having  a  resurrection.  This  form 
of  servitude  was  regularly  recognized  in  the  old 
code  of  college  rules  of  1799,  freshmen  being  ordered 
to  fetch  and  carry  "  for  all  the  Senior  classes  who 
have  themselves  served  a  freshmanship."  But  the 

223 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

freshmen  made  their  services  obnoxious  by  the 
easy  means  of  doing  everything  with  an  assumed 
density,  such  as,  when  ordered  to  go  to  a  shop 
with  a  dollar  for  pipes  and  tobacco,  returning 
with  ninety-nine  pipes  and  a  cent's  worth  of 
tobacco.  In  1796  a  new  set  of  college  rules  ordered 
that  freshmen  be  excused  from  going  on  errands  if 
they  wished. 

For  years  thereafter  fagging  was  never  heard  of. 
It  has  recently  returned  in  a  genial  sort  of  style,  and 
freshmen  to-day  beat  the  rugs  and  set  up  the  furni- 
ture of  sophomores  in  good-natured  acceptance  of  a 
system  that  they  realize  will  work  to  their  advan- 
tage a  year  later.  Still,  it  is  interesting  to  conjecture 
what  would  have  happened  in  the  roaring  "  eight- 
ies "  had  a  "  Soph  "  ordered  a  "  Freshie  "  to  beat 
his  carpet.  A  fight  would  have  been  needed  to  en- 
force the  ultimatum.  Nor  would  there  have  been 
any  peaceable  submission,  as  there  seems  to  be  to- 
day, to  the  edict  that  freshmen  must  wear  a  dis- 
tinctive cap  as  "  his  badge  of  servitude  and  his 
emblem  of  meekness." 

Manifestly  the  relations  between  the  two  lower 
classes  have  lost  the  ferocity  of  more  ancient  times. 
And  there  is  no  doubt  that  one  of  the  prime  reasons 
for  this  is  the  disappearance  of  the  cane-rush,  which 
died  as  a  genuine  function  in  the  middle  "  eighties." 

224 


'THE   OLD   TRADITIONS" 

This  rush  reached  its  most  glorious  estate  in  the  fall 
of  1883,  when  it  was  prepared  for  in  thoroughly 
scientific  fashion.  Every  man  of  both  classes  was 
stripped  to  the  waist,  and  the  freshmen  were  deluged 
with  olive  oil  at  the  hands  of  the  juniors  in  the 
"  gym."  A  minute  after  this  ministration,  the 
freshman  band  had  formed  a  solid  circle  in  the 
street,  which  was  lined  with  the  equipages  of  the 
country  folk  come  in  to  see  the  fight,  the  men  of  the 
two  upper  classes,  and  most  of  the  townspeople. 
In  the  center  were  three  giants  holding  the  hickory 
cane.  The  situation  grew  tense,  when  suddenly, 
with  a  terrifying  yell,  the  cohorts  of  '86  dashed  out 
from  Reed  Hall  and,  in  wedge  form,  hit  the  round 
mass  of  '87  with  a  bone-crushing  bang. 

Up  and  down  the  street  in  the  choking,  rasping 
dust  and  the  fierce  September  heat  the  oily  contest 
raged  for  two  mortal  hours.  Men  fell  out  uncon- 
scious, only  to  be  revived  by  buckets  of  cold  water 
lavished  upon  them  by  the  solicitous  juniors.  Trou- 
sers were  torn  to  shreds,  making  necessary  the 
retirement  of  the  feminine  spectators.  Slowly  the 
surging,  writhing  mass  of  greasy  humanity  some- 
how gravitated  toward  Reed  Hall,  until,  with  one 
final  burst  of  power,  the  strong  men  of  '86  shook  off 
the  freshmen  and  forced  the  cane  through  the  door- 
way. The  "  Sophs  "  had  won,  as  they  always  did 

225 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

in  those  days.  Discipline  and  the  solidarity  of  a 
year's  acquaintance  proved  too  much  for  untrained 
strength.  Fn  less  than  fifteen  minutes,  however, 
the  freshmen,  revived,  bathed  and  clothed,  were 
strutting  across  the  campus,  each  sporting  some 
sort  of  cane.  The  right  to  carry  one  had  been 
strenuously  earned. 

Gone  with  the  cane-rush  is  "  Freshmen  beer  ", 
and  gone  for  the  good  of  the  college.  This  tradi- 
tional entertainment  was  supposed  to  be  the  joyous 
compliment  of  the  just-entered  class  to  the  others 
above  it  —  a  tribute  to  the  powers  that  were  for 
allowing  freshmen  to  exist.  The  malt  refreshment 
was  usually  brought  up  from  "  down  river  "  in  a 
couple  of  huge  barrels  and  in  some  way  hoisted  into 
"  Bed-bug  Alley  ",  the  longitudinal  hallway  on  the 
third  floor  of  old  Dartmouth.  There,  a  barrel  horsed 
up  at  either  end,  the  bibulous  portion  of  the  college 
would  make  a  night  of  it,  swilling  the  dreadful  brew 
until  nature  rebelled,  faithfully  believing  that  the 
occasion  was  an  enjoyable  one  and  that  freshman 
honor  had  been  gallantly  maintained.  Greater 
discretion  finally  caused  the  abandonment  of  the 
orgy;  if  beer  is  not  wholly  unknown  at  Hanover 
to-day,  it  is  certainly  more  sensibly  distributed. 

The  college  cheer  —  the  resounding  "  Wah-Hoo- 
Wah;  Wah-Hoo-Wah;  Da-di-di-Dartmouth,  Wah- 

226 


'THE   OLD   TRADITIONS" 

HooWah,  Tige-r-r-r — "  —  is  to-day  traditional; 
yet  it  is  not  ancient,  unless  one  may  believe  that 
Eleazar's  aborigines  approximated  to  it  in-  moments 
of  fire-watered  enthusiasm.  Colder  history  records 
that  it  was  the  invention  of  Daniel  A.  Rollins,  of 
the  class  of  1879.  He  was  a  genius  for  uniting  the 
Indian  flavor  of  a  yell  with  sonorous  power.  No 
college  has  anything  like  it  in  fitness  of  sentiment  as 
applied  to  origins.  Unfortunately,  of  late  years  the 
cheer  has  been  all  but  ruined  and  certainly  made 
unintelligible  by  an  over-increased  speed  in  giving 
it.  It  has  lost  its  swing,  its  power,  and  its  meaning, 
and  has  become  a  mere  jumble  of  barks.  We  may 
hope,  however,  that  the  spirit  of  artistic  fitness  of 
things,  which  is  now  coming  upon  the  new  Dart- 
mouth, may  yet  summon  back  the  Indian  ghost  of 
old  "  Wah-Hoo-Wah  ",  and  return  him  to  his  place 
at  the  head  of  all  college  cheers. 

Another  supremely  picturesque  feature  of  Dart- 
mouth student  life  of  thirty  years  ago,  whose  pass- 
ing is  recalled  with  regret,  was  the  ceremony  of 
obsequies  over  mathematics.  In  its  first  form  this 
was  a  burial,  and  its  general  nature  may  best  be 
learned  from  a  programme  of  1872,  issued  by  the 
sophomore  class,  whose  function  it  was  to  inter  the 
hated  books  at  the  end  of  their  enforced  acquaint- 
ance with  them. 

227 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 


IN   HISTORIAM 


FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES 

OF 
MATTHEW  -  MATICS. 

This  precious  child  was  launched  upon  a 
frowning  and  unappreciative  humanity  Septem- 
ber 1st  A.  D.  1870,  and  after  a  brief  but  brilliant 
career  came  to  an  untimely  end  May  6th,  A.  D. 
1872.  ^__^ 

"  SlT    TIBI    TERRA    LEVIS  " 

The  procession  will  form  in  front  of  the 
Chapel  at  IO  p.  M.  and  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Marshal  will  accompany  the  remains  to  their 
final  resting-place  in  the  following  order: 

I.     Band. 
II.     Guard  of  Honor. 

III.  Pall  Bearers  supporting  the  bier. 

IV.  Near  relatives. 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES 

MUSIC. 
Oration — Theme — X  =  oo     Samuel  L.  Powers. 

MUSIC. 
Poem  —  The   functions   of 

Mathematics  Henry  F.  Chase. 

228 


'THE   OLD   TRADITIONS" 

MUSIC. 

Funeral  Ode  Henry  H.  Hart. 

During  the  singing  of  the  Ode,  the  rituals  will 
be  performed.  At  the  close  of  which  a  salute 
will  be  fired  into  the  grave,  and  amid  salvos  of 
musketry  and  the  wailing  of  the  bereaved  friends, 
each  member  of  the  class  will  pay  his  last  tribute 
of  affection  and  esteem  to  the  memory  of  the 
departed. 

At  the  close  of  these  exercises,  the  class  in  in- 
dividual procession,  as  components  of  a  great 
mathematical  force,  will  seek  solace  in  the  limits 
of  space.  Quod  Erat  Demonstrandum. 

When  this  travesty  on  burial  was  finally  for- 
bidden by  the  faculty,  the  change  was  made  — 
with  the  ease  and  ingenuity  of  college  boys  —  to 
cremation,  a  very  much  finer  spectacle.  The  last 
ceremony  of  burning  was  held  in  the  spring  of 
1884.  It  was  weirdly  attractive.  Preceded  by  a 
band  groaning  out  a  solemn  dirge,  eight  students 
dressed  as  Roman  priests  carried  the  books  on  a 
bier.  The  class  followed,  bearing  torches,  each 
man  wearing  a  long  black  robe  over  the  head  with 
holes  cut  for  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth.  A  number  of 
imps,  clad  in  red,  disported  themselves  about  the 
cortege  as  it  marched  around  the  campus  and  thence 
to  a  huge  funeral  pyre  inside  the  fence.  As  fire 
was  touched  to  the  wood,  the  books  were  hurled 

229 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

into  the  flames  with  yells  of  exultation,  and  a  wild 
hand-in-hand  dance  celebrated  their  final  con- 
sumption. This  wonderfully  picturesque  custom 
has  its  modern  counterpart  in  the  cremation  of 
freshman  caps  at  the  close  of  a  first  class  year  in 
college;  but  it  lacks  the  decorative  features  of  the 
older  function. 

One  of  the  most  pleasing  of  the  ancient  Hano- 
verian customs,  because  it  reveals  sentiment  of  a 
rare  and  compelling  kind,  is  that  of  "  Singing  out 
the  Seniors  "  the  week  before  Commencement. 
For  this  parting  God-speed  to  the  men  about  to  go 
into  the  world,  the  whole  college  gathers  in  chapel 
for  the  last  exercise  for  the  year  in  that  place.  The 
simplicity  of  it  all  is  most  impressive.  There  is  a 
scripture  reading,  a  prayer,  an  anthem  by  the 
choir  and  then  the  singing  by  the  seniors  of  the 
time-honored  hymn,  beginning: 

Come  let  us  anew  our  journey  pursue; 

Roll  'round  with  the  year, 
And  never  stand  still  till  the  Master  appear. 

The  age  of  this  solemn  observance  is  unknown. 
A  member  of  the  class  of  1846  says  that  it  was 
in  vogue  in  1843,  as  long  established  and  recog- 
nized. 

Of  less  antiquity,  but  now  a  genuine  tradition,  is 
230 


'THE   OLD   TRADITIONS" 

the  senior  "  Wet-Down  ",  which  takes  the  form  of 
a  great  barrel  of  lemonade  set  up  on  the  campus 
after  the  "  Sing-Out."  Of  this  harmless  concoction, 
which  custom  rigidly  requires  to  be  without  a 
"  stick  ",  the  seniors  and  juniors  are  given  to  drink, 
while  the  sophomores  and  freshmen  struggle  to 
tip  the  barrel  over  in  derision  of  its  mildness.  All 
this  may  seem  rather  childish  and  unsophisticated 
to  the  "  clubman  "  of  the  city  college,  but  at  Dart- 
mouth the  "  old  traditions  "  give  vitality  and 
virility  to  many  a  naive  custom,  because  it  is  still 
remembered  that  "  there  were  mighty  men  of  old  " 
who  were  not  ashamed  to  love  and  perpetuate 
them. 

Commencements  as  a  whole,  however,  have 
vastly  improved  in  decorum  and  taste  in  fifty 
years,  mainly  because  the  "  circusing  "  of  the  annual 
event  for  the  outside  world  has  long  ceased.  "  It 
is  now  almost  Commencement  ",  wrote  a  student 
to  his  brother  in  1824.  "  Three  days  more  will 
bring  us  to  that  day,  when  the  devil  reigns  pre- 
dominant." Lord  observes  that  "  in  the  height 
of  its  glory,  and  within  the  memory  of  the  older 
alumni,  this  occasion  combined  with  the  genuine 
and  refined  pleasures  of  a  great  literary  gathering 
all  the  external  attractions  appropriate  to  a  fair  or 
a  general  muster  of  the  olden  time.  The  din  of 

231 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

preparation  for  these  began  with  the  break  of  day 
on  Monday  by  the  construction  of  booths  in  choice 
spots  about  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  Green. 
During  that  day  and  the  next  every  public  con- 
veyance brought  its  contribution  till  all  the  houses 
of  the  village,  both  public  and  private,  were  filled 
with  guests. 

"  On  the  morning  of  Wednesday  all  approaches 
to  the  village  were  crowded  with  vehicles  of  every 
description,  and  numerous  foot  passengers  as  well, 
all  hurrying  in  to  see  the  fun.  By  this  time  every 
available  spot  along  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
square  would  be  occupied  with  a  booth  of  a  trader, 
and,  as  the  day  passed,  travelling  adventurers 
swarmed  in  with  their  carts  and  bivouacked  on  the 
spot.  The  night  that  followed  was  enlivened  with 
their  lamps  and  the  buzz  of  preparation,  and  some- 
times with  the  persuasions  of  the  students,  who, 
not  relishing  their  presence,  attempted  to  induce 
them  to  depart.  The  surrounding  country  was 
emptied  into  Hanover.  Instances  are  not  wanting 
of  persons  who  have  attended  fifty  consecutive 
Commencements. 

"  The  peddlers,  the  auctioneers,  the  jugglers  and 
the  shows  with  their  attendant  throngs  would 
spread  far  up  toward  the  meeting  house,  and  with 
the  cider,  the  strong  beer  openly  sold,  and  the 

232 


'THE   OLD  TRADITIONS" 

stronger  drink  scarcely  concealed,  toward  evening 
the  crowds  would  wax  ruder  and  the  turmoil  more 
furious,  until  it  not  seldom  resulted  in  a  brawl,  so 
that  all  orderly  people  breathed  freer  if  the  usual 
thunder-shower  dispersed  the  noisy  and  profane 
rabble." 

As  late  as  1845,  Commencement  was  more  or  less 
attended  by  a  raree-show.  One  of  the  Hanover 
residents  relates  in  his  diary  for  that  year:  "  July 
3 1st.  The  annual  Commencement  this  day  and  a 
fine  fair  day  too.  The  smallest  literary  procession 
that  I  have  noticed  for  several  years  —  but  an  un- 
common rush  of  all  kinds  of  people  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  there  was  uncommon  attractions 
for  them.  A  somewhat  extensive  Menagerie  of  wild 
animals  (in  most  miserable  plight  however).  The 
Boston  Brass  band  of  musicians,  and  the  famous 
foreign  Violin  player  named  Ole  Bull,  and  4  Albinoes 
or  white  negroes.  Every  thing  to  pick  away  money 
and  lead  the  mind  of  people  from  the  great  concerns 
of  eternity  and  their  duties  of  charity  to  their  needy 
fellow  citizens  and  the  perishing  heathen.  Even 
clergymen  were  so  enraptured  that  they  could  not 
resist  the  invitation  to  hand  out  their  half  dollar 
to  hear  him  scrape  his  catgut  —  and  another  quarter 
to  hear  the  brass  band  perform." 

The  senior  spreads  of  that  day  were  bountiful,  if 
233 


THE  STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

not  esthetic.  A  visitor  to  the  same  Commencement 
wrote:  "  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  went 
up  to  the  assembly  rooms  in  the  new  College  (Reed 
Hall)  where  the  graduating  class  held  their  select 
Levee.  It  was  very  tastefully  decorated  and  the 
table  most  magnificently  spread.  We  had  peaches, 
apricots,  grapes,  oranges,  raisins,  figs,  nuts  of  all 
kinds,  pickled  fish,  water  melons  a  foot  and  a  half 
or  two  feet  long,  cakes,  ice-cream,  tea,  coffee  and 
lemonade.  The  students  gave  this  instead  of  a  ball. 
Kendall's  band  played,  and  all  went  off  well." 

Traditional  "  characters  "  have  always  abounded 
at  Dartmouth,  as  with  every  college  set  in  a  small 
village  where  the  all  in  all  is  the  institution  itself. 
Most  of  these  worthies  have  left  no  history,  no 
memories,  even.  Others,  still  haunting  the  thoughts 
of  Dartmouth  men  yet  living,  will  again  visualize 
themselves  at  the  touch  of  suggestion.  There  was 
"  Hod  "  Frary,  for  instance,  the  keeper  of  the  old 
Dartmouth  Hotel,  one  of  whose  cherished  habits  it 
was  to  carve  the  roasts  on  a  table  in  the  corner  of 
the  dining-room  and  every  now  and  then,  in  full 
sight  of  the  guests,  wipe  his  enormous  knife  across 
a  vest  encrusted  with  the  grease  and  blood  of  ages. 
The  students  had  a  theory  that  "  Hod  "  did  this  to 
discourage  appetite  on  the  part  of  his  boarders,  and 
thus  make  his  table  d'hote  the  more  profitable. 

234 


'THE   OLD   TRADITIONS" 

There  was  the  quaint  old  "  Professor  of  Dust 
and  Ashes  ",  whose  loved  and  pompous  duty  it  was 
to  clear  the  ancient  recitation  rooms  of  the  litter 
strewn  about  by  the  students,  and  to  build  the  fires 
in  the  big  box  stoves  that  heated  these  abodes  of 
the  muses.  His  name  was  Haskell,  and  he  lived 
across  the  way  from  the  old  Rood  House,  where 
was  located,  in  his  day,  the  "  elegant "  young 
ladies'  boarding  school  kept  by  the  Argus-eyed 
Misses  Sherman,  and  known  as  the  "  Sherman 
Nunnery."  The  good  "  Professor  "  has  long  been 
dust  and  ashes  himself,  but  his  memory  is  still 
cherished  among  the  older  alumni. 

There  was  "  Old  Dud  ",  who,  with  his  flotilla  of 
ancient  stage-coaches  swung  on  leather  springs  and 
drawn  up  in  gallant  array  at  the  station,  "  Nawich 
'nd  'Anover  "  was  the  official  welcomer  of  return- 
ing Dartmouth  men  for  a  period  of  nearly  forty 
years.  "  Old  Dud  ",  the  magnate  of  all  stage 
drivers,  the  man  who  would  in  these  days  run  grave 
risk  of  being  prosecuted  by  the  Commerce  Commis- 
sion for  restraint  of  interstate  transportation.  "  Old 
Dud  ",  the  friend  of  everybody  and  everybody's 
friend! 

There  was  "  Lil  "  Carter,  the  Delmonico  of  the 
middle  "  eighties  ",  in  Hanover.  The  maker  of  the 
best  oyster  stews  and  ice-cream  that  ever  tickled 

235 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

the  palates  and  depleted  the  pocketbooks  of  college 
students  in  any  town,  big  or  little.  A  cheerful 
truster,  withal.  There  was  no  occasion  to  growl  at 
the  high  cost  of  living  while  "  Lil  "  was  in  business. 
At  first  he  kept  open  house  in  the  Tontine  Block, 
where  several  of  the  secret  society  halls  were  then 
located,  but  when  that  was  burned,  he  established 
his  restaurant  in  the  second  story  of  his  stable.  His 
customers  had  to  admit  that  the  flavor  of  his  food 
suffered  somewhat  from  the  change.  There  was  a 
sort  of  ammonia  tang  to  what  one  drank  and  a  dis- 
tinctly horsey  aroma  about  what  one  ate.  But 
"  Lil  ",  like  a  gentleman,  made  up  for  this  by  giving 
bigger  portions  of  everything  and  extending  longer 
credit  all  around. 

There  was  "  Kib  ",  proprietor  of  "  Kibling's 
Op'ry  House,"  on  College  Street, 

That  thespian  den 

Where  tragic  ham-fats  roared  on  6  by  10, 
Where  dear  Hank  White  retold  his  minstrel  jest, 
And  Barnaby's  "  cork  leg  "  led  all  the  rest. 
Where  the  "  Alikado  "  burst  upon  the  town, 
And  college  fiddlers  squeaked  the  chorus  down. 

"  Kib's  "  temple  of  art  was  all  too  often  the  scene 
of  histrionic  efforts  that  should  never  have  been 
made.  But  if  a  guilty  company  tarried  a  second 
night,  its  doom  was  swift  and  certain.  The  sopho- 

236 


"THE   OLD  TRADITIONS" 

mores  would  gather  to  a  man  outside  the  hall, 
promptly  at  eight,  equipped  with  tin  horns,  cow- 
bells and  band  instruments,  and  blare  away  until 
the  wretched  actors  inside  would  give  up  the  struggle 
to  be  heard  and  dismiss  their  audience.  This  was 
not  strictly  gentlemanly,  judged  by  the  rules  of 
more  polite  society,  but  it  was  a  protest  at  being 
duped,  the  only  effective  one  the  boys  knew,  since 
there  were  no  other  censors  of  the  drama  in  Hanover 
then. 

"  Kib  "  also  maintained  in  one  corner  of  his  es- 
tablishment a  wretched  little  bar-room,  where  with 
hardened  soul  he  dispensed  his  terrible  "  ink  "  and 
"  resin  "  as,  with  malignant  glee,  he  termed  whisky 
and  beer.  Later  he  faced  a  lifetime  in  jail  on  ac- 
cumulated sentences  for  "  selling ",  but  a  too- 
lenient  law  set  him  free  after  a  brief  period  of  servi- 
tude. "  Kib  "  was  the  last  easily  accessible  and 
defiant  rumseller  in  Hanover. 

And  then  there  was  the  illustrious  Daniel  Pratt, 
the  "  Great  American  Traveler  ",  property  of  other 
colleges,  also,  because  of  his  love  for  them  all  and 
his  peripatetic  habits  among  them.  The  dear  old 
man  was  once  made  the  hero  of  a  great  procession 
at  Hanover,  being  escorted  from  the  Dartmouth 
Hotel  to  the  old  chapel.  There,  with  colossal  grav- 
ity, the  students  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary 

237 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

degree  of  C.  0.  D.  Pratt  then  delivered  himself 
of  a  wonderful  oration  on  the  "  Vocabulaboratory  of 
the  World's  History."  It  is  related  that  after  the 
address  was  over,  as  he  came  out  on  the  chapel 
steps,  some  disturbance  was  caused,  and,  brave  man 
and  chevalier  though  he  was,  he  became  frightened 
and  started  across  the  campus  like  a  deer  with  the 
whole  college  in  full  cry  after  him. 

EheUj  fugaces!  Times  change,  and  men  and 
things  change  with  them.  The  familiars  of  yester- 
day are  the  traditions  of  to-day,  and  the  traditions 
of  to-morrow  are  to-day  in  the  making.  Dart- 
mouth, by  reason  of  her  very  distinctive  flavor,  will 
not  soon  cease  to  be  a  college  of  "  the  old  tradi- 
tions." Some  will  be  born,  will  flourish,  and  will 
die.  Some  will  live  always.  Dartmouth's  sons 
have  set  a  watch. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

"  DARTMOUTH    OUT  -  o'  -  DOORS  " 

DARTMOUTH  is  to-day  preeminently  the  col- 
lege of  the  "  out-o'-doors."  This  distinction 
has  not  come  to  it  entirely  by  reason  of  its  superb 
location,  where  mountains,  hills,  and  glades;  forests 
and  streams;  a  lordly  river  at  its  feet  and  lovely 
lakes  within  easy  reach  give  it  a  setting  incom- 
parable for  the  casual  stroll  or  the  strenuous,  long- 
distance "  hike."  For  more  than  a  century  these 
prodigally  beautiful  gifts  of  nature  encircled  Dart- 
mouth, yet  there  has  not  until  recently  been  any 
genuine  or  general  use  of  them. 

A  generation  ago  the  few  men  who  "  tramped  " 
in  spring  or  autumn  were  rare  and  queer  specimens 
to  the  majority.  The  rigors  of  winter  were  for  the 
most  part  evaded  by  close  adherence  to  stoves.  A 
cross-country  trip  over  the  snow  would  have  been 
regarded  as  an  expedition  of  lunatics.  Toboggans, 
skis  and  snow-shoes  were  unknown;  sleighing  was 
not  popular;  coasting  languished,  and  skating  was 
generally  impossible  by  reason  of  the  heavy  snow- 
falls. The  prevailing  attitude  toward  winter  was 
accurately  expressed  in  Richard  Hovey's: 

239 


For  the  wolf  wind  is  whining  in  the  doorways, 

And  the  snow  drifts  deep  along  the  road, 

And  the  ice-gnomes  are  marching  from  their  Norways, 

And  the  great  white  cold  walks  abroad. 

(Boo-oo-o!   pass  the  bowl.) 

For  here  by  the  fire 

We  defy  frost  and  storm. 

Ha,  ha!  we  are  warm 

And  we  have  our  hearts'  desire. 

Today,  thanks  to  the  activities  of  the  Dartmouth 
Outing  Club  and  to  a  new  appreciation  of  the  joys 
of  the  open  country,  all  seasons  bring  large  numbers 
of  students  into  the  "  out-o'-doors  "  and  the  for- 
midable old  Hanover  winter  itself  is  now  enlivened 
by  one  of  the  finest  and  most  popular  celebrations 
of  the  college  year,  the  Winter  Carnival. 

The  first  exponent  of  "  Dartmouth  out-o'-doors  " 
was  John  Ledyard,  that  original  genius  and  adven- 
turous soul  of  the  class  of  1776,  who  roamed  the 
world  in  marvellous  fashion  for  his  day,  and  finally 
died  in  Africa,  as  he  was  preparing  to  cross  that 
continent.  Ledyard  arrived  in  Hanover  in  a  sulky, 
which  he  had  driven  through  the  wilderness  roads 
from  Hartford.  That  he  and  his  equipage  made  a 
sensation  when  they  reached  the  college  may  be 
taken  for  granted.  "  Both  the  horse  and  the  sulky  ", 
says  Sparks,  "  gave  evident  tokens  of  having  known 
better  days,  and  the  dress  of  their  owner  was  pe- 

240 


:    ' 


Wilson  Hall  (Library) 


"DARTMOUTH   OUT  -  O'  -  DOORS  " 

culiar,  bidding  equal  defiance  to  symmetry  of  pro- 
portion and  to  the  fashion  of  the  times.  In  addition 
to  the  traveller  himself,  this  ancient  vehicle  was  bur- 
dened with  a  quantity  of  calico  for  curtains,  and 
other  articles  to  assist  in  theatrical  exhibitions,  of 
which  he  was  very  fond.  .  .  .  The  stage  was  fitted 
up,  and  plays  were  acted,  in  which  Ledyard  person- 
ated the  chief  characters.  '  Cato  '  was  among  the 
tragedies  brought  out  upon  the  boards,  and  Led- 
yard acted  the  part  of  old  Syphax,  wearing  a  long 
gray  beard  and  a  dress  suited  to  his  notion  of  the 
costume  of  a  Numidian  prince." 

Whether  Ledyard  loved  nature  with  an  unusual 
passion,  or  merely  desired  a  lark  in  the  open  now 
and  then,  we  do  not  know.  But  it  is  recorded  that 
in  the  midwinter  of  1772-1773,  he,  with  Wheelock's 
consent,  persuaded  several  of  the  students  to  camp 
out  with  him  in  the  snow  in  the  wilds  of  the  "  Velvet 
Rocks  ",  two  miles  east  of  the  college.  The  snow 
was  three  feet  deep,  and  drifted.  The  party  went  in 
couples  on  snow-shoes,  and  reaching  the  summit 
with  some  labor,  built  a  fire,  ate  their  supper,  and 
each  couple  prepared  for  the  night  by  scraping  away 
the  snow  and  laying  a  bed  of  evergreen  boughs  and 
a  blanket.  One  then  lying  down,  'his  partner  drew 
over  him  a  second  blanket,  buried  him  in  snow,  and 
then  crawled  in  by  his  side.  They  passed,  they 

241 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

said,  quite  a  comfortable  night,  and  were  at  home 
in  time  for  prayers  by  candle-light  in  the  morn- 
ing. 

Chafing  at  last  under  old  Eleazar's  rigid  discipline, 
and  objecting  particularly  to  the  compulsion  of 
blowing  the  conch  horn  in  his  turn  to  summon  the 
students  to  various  exercises,  Ledyard  determined 
to  abscond.  In  May,  1773,  while  the  president  was 
in  the  "  down-country  ",  he  cut  a  huge  pine  near  the 
banks  of  the  river,  and  from  it  fashioned  a  dug-out 
canoe  fifty  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide.  This 
stalwart  craft,  rigged  with  a  woven  willow  shelter 
in  the  stern,  was  launched  with  the  help  of  class- 
mates, and  in  it  Ledyard,  with  dried  venison  for 
food  and  a  bearskin  for  covering  at  night,  paddled 
down  the  Connecticut  to  Hartford,  one  hundred  and 
forty  miles  away,  narrowly  escaping  with  his  life 
at  the  thundering  maelstrom  of  Bellows  Falls.  A 
great  stone,  with  bronze  tablet,  now  marks  the  spot 
where  this  first  of  Dartmouth's  "  gentleman  ad- 
venturers "  cut  the  tree  for  his  craft. 

But  although  now  and  again  men  have  loved  the 
silent  places  about  the  college  town,  where  one  can 
be  remote  and  almost  in  the  wilderness  in  an  hour's 
walk,  the  great  green  and  white  "  out-o'-doors  " 
waited  a  hundred  and  forty-one  years  for  the  form- 
ing of  an  association  that  should  at  last  bring  a  large 

242 


'"  DARTMOUTH  OUT  -  O'  -  DOORS  " 

number  of  pioneers  into  the  open  with  the  bonds  of 
enthusiasm  and  energy. 

It.was  in  January,  1910,  that  F.  H.  Harris,  of  the 
class  of  1911,  "the  lone  ski-runner",  was  inspired, 
on  one  of  his  expeditions  over  the  snow,  with  the 
idea  that  the  old  time  Hanoverian  conception  of 
winter  was  all  wrong;  that  it  was  not  a  dread  time 
for  the  close  embrace  of  the  steam  radiator,  but  a 
glorious  opportunity  for  the  making  of  redder 
blood,  more  powerful  appetites,  and  sounder  sleep. 
He  issued  a  call  to  the  wild  in  the  Dartmouth.  Fifty 
men  replied.  The  Dartmouth  Outing  Club  had  its 
birth  forthwith.  Skis,  snow-shoes  and  toboggans 
suddenly  became  profitable  articles  of  merchandise. 
From  fifty,  the  membership  of  the  club  quickly 
grew  to  hundreds. 

Out  of  the  new  organization's  fertile  activities 
came  the  Winter  Carnival,  which  now  attracts  crowds 
of  visitors,  including  the  inevitable,  enthusiastic 
girls,  to  enjoy  the  ski  and  snow-shoe  dashes  and 
cross-country  runs,  the  hockey  games,  and  the  ski- 
jumps.  "  The  great  white  cold  walks  abroad  ",  as 
in  Hovey's  time,  and  often  to  the  pace  of  twenty 
degrees  below  zero,  at  these  carnivals;  but  nobody 
is  daunted,  nobody  is  frozen,  and  the  feminine  con- 
tingent transfers  itself  from  furs,  mackinaws,  sweat- 
ers, and  toques  to  the  silks  and  satins  of  evening 

243 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

dress  for  the  Carnival  Ball  in  the  commons  with  as 
good  grace  as  if  the  dance  were  in  Boston  or  New 
York. 

The  chief  glory  of  the  Outing  Club,  however,  and 
a  thing  that  is  bound  to  make  a  race  of  Dartmouth 
men  still  stauncher  of  body,  cleaner  of  morals,  and 
more  thoughtful  of  mind,  is  the  trail  and  cabin  sys- 
tem that  has  come  into  being  naturally  and  consist- 
ently with  the  splendid  theater  nature  has  given  the 
college  men  for  their  "  out-o'-door  "  performances. 

The  beginning  of  this  unique  course  of  education 
in  the  semi-wilderness  was  the  excellent  cabin  on  the 
side  of  Moose  Mountain,  a  fine  and  dominating 
eminence  eight  miles  northeast  of  the  campus. 
Through  the  enthusiastic  interest  and  labors  of  Mr. 
Franklin  P.  Shuniway,  of  Boston,  the  alumni  gave 
the  six  hundred  dollars  necessary  to  erect  the 
shelter,  which  was  dedicated  by  President  Nichols 
on  May  30,  1913.  Here,  close  to  a  cold  and  pic- 
turesque mountain  torrent,  as  many  as  thirty 
students  may  gather  about  the  roaring  logs  in  the 
big  stone  fireplace;  may  sleep  in  bunks  lined  with 
fir-balsam;  may  prepare  the  good,  honest  "  grub  " 
of  the  camper  in  the  well-appointed  kitchen,  and 
may  look  out  over  the  beautiful  world  for  a  brief 
interval  between  classrooms,  into  the  setting  sun  or 
the  young  moon,  and  be  the  better  for  doing  it. 

244 


"  DARTMOUTH   OUT  -  O'  -  DOORS  " 

Next  in  this  chain  is  Cube  Mountain,  a  still  nobler 
hill  ten  miles  to  the  north  of  Moose.  Here  another 
Dartmouth  cabin  has  been  erected,  thanks  again  to 
Mr.  Shumway's  persuasive  ways  with  the  alumni. 
Further  still  will  be  a  cabin  in  the  Agassiz  Basin, 
near  Moosilauke,  land  for  which  has  been  given  by 
Reverend  J.  E.  Johnson,  of  the  class  of  1866,  who 
had  presented  the  club,  in  1913,  with  his  hundred- 
acre  place,  "  Sky-Line  Farm  "  in  Littleton,  including 
a  good  house.  This  point  completes  the  northern 
trail  for  Dartmouth,  since  from  Littleton  or  from 
Agassiz  Basin  the  "  hiker  "  into  the  heart  of  the 
White  Mountains  may  find  plenty  of  Appalachian 
Club  and  other  cabins  ready  for  service. 

The  next  developments  are  expected  to  be  toward 
the  east,  perhaps  on  Mount  Cardigan,  and  to  the 
west  into  the  foothills  of  the  Green  Mountains. 
There  is  no  limit  to  the  magnificent  range  of  outing 
possibilities  in  every  point  of  the  compass.  Health 
and  strength  and  manly  love  for  the  open  beckon  at 
every  turn  of  the  year,  and  from  the  "  groves  of  the 
academy  "  Dartmouth  men  in  constantly  greater 
numbers  are  going  out  into  the  groves  of  the  Om- 
nipotent for  something  no  finite  theorems  or  mental 
gymnastics  of  the  class  or  lecture-room  can  possibly 
give  them. 

The  "  out-o'-door  "  activities  that  take  the  form 
245 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

of  organized  athletics  are,  of  course,  older  than  the 
present  remarkable  spirit  of  the  trail;  yet  modern 
enough,  as  compared  with  the  life  of  the  college. 
The  ancient  worthies  did  not  look  with  much  favor 
on  useless  and  non-productive  games.  The  first 
code  of  college  laws  set  forth  its  desires  thus: 

In  order  that  the  channel  of  their  diversions  may  be 
turned  from  that  which  is  puerile,  such  as  playing  with 
balls,  bowls,  and  other  ways  of  diversion,  as  have  been 
necessarily  gone  into  by  students  in  other  places,  for  want 
of  an  opportunity  to  exercise  themselves  in  that  which 
is  more  useful,  ...  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the 
students  .  .  .  that  they  torn  the  course  of  their  diver- 
sions, and  exercises  for  their  health,  to  the  practice  of 
some  manual  arts,  or  cultivation  of  gardens  and  other 
lands  at  the  proper  hours  of  leisure. 

Eleazar  Wheelock  was  a  thrifty  soul  who  realized 
the  advantage  of  employing  student  energies  to  the 
turning  out  of  vegetables  for  the  benefit  of  the 
college. 

But  games  persisted,  in  more  or  less  fugitive 
fashion.  The  Indians  had  sports  of  their  own  and 
pursued  them  as  long  as  they  remained  at  Dart- 
mouth. Wickets  were  in  fashion  in  1790,  if  we  may 
trust  a  naive  engraving  of  the  college  grounds  at 
that  period.  Football  of  the  "  Old  Division  ", 
free-for-all,  "  kick-as-kick-can  "  style  flourished  for 

246 


'"  DARTMOUTH   OUT  -  O'  -  DOORS  " 

many  years,  and  was  played  up  to  1850  with  an 
inflated  bladder  inside  a  leather  case.  For  the  gym- 
nastic enthusiasts  a  frame  was  set  up  in  1852  back 
of  the  observatory.  This  contrivance,  boasting  only 
two  ropes  with  rings  and  a  horizontal  bar,  was 
known  as  the  "  Freshman  Gallows  ",  by  reason  of 
a  tradition,  which  has  an  apocryphal  flavor,  that  a 
member  of  one  lowly  class  brought  himself  to  an 
untimely  end  by  too  strenuous  work  upon  it. 

Of  the  athletic  sports  now  existent  at  Hanover, 
baseball  is  the  oldest.  The  first  college  nine  was 
organized  in  1866,  "  to  supply  a  deficiency  ",  said 
the  Aegis  of  that  time,  "  occasioned  by  the  lack  of 
interest  displayed  in  the  football  game.  ...  It  is 
our  belief  that  football  must  cease  to  exist  as  a 
college  game.  The  time  and  advancing  interests  of 
old  Dartmouth  demand  it." 

That  nine  beat  Concord  and  Portsmouth,  but  was 
defeated  by  Amherst,  40  to  10,  on  its  own  ground. 
The  first  game  with  Harvard  was  played  in  1869, 
and  Harvard's  seasoned  veterans  won,  38  to  o. 
That  old  score  has  been  paid  off  by  Dartmouth 
victories  many  times  since  then,  but  never  in  such 
impressive  numerical  fashion,  for  the  days  of  enor- 
mous scores  and  appalling  error  figures  soon  passed. 
Dartmouth's  baseball  record  has  always  been  hon- 
orable and  still  is,  though  the  old-time  interest  in 

247 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

the  game,  which  was  overwhelmingly  keen  in  the 
"  eighties  ",  is  now  at  a  much  lower  ebb  among  the 
non-playing  students. 

Curiously  enough,  intercollegiate  rowing,  now  and 
for  a  long  time  extinct  at  Hanover,  in  spite  of  the 
great  river  near  by,  ran  baseball  a  close  second  in 
point  of  age.  It  began  with  a  spontaneous  "  craze  ", 
so  the  athletic  records  say,  in  the  autumn  of  1872. 
Eaton,  '75,  and  Paul,  Lawrence,  and  Underbill,  '73, 
were  the  pioneers  in  the  movement.  In  the  winter 
enough  money  was  raised  to  build  a  boathouse,  hire 
a  trainer,  and  buy  a  six-oared  cedar  shell  from  the 
famous  Elliott,  of  Greenpoint,  Long  Island.  An 
old  professional  "  champ  "  named  John  Biglin  was 
the  trainer.  He  selected  a  crew  of  "  raw  beef  and 
bloody  bone  giants  ",  who  in  spite  of  their  crudity 
as  oarsmen,  brought  the  Dartmouth  shell  in  fourth 
among  nine  at  the  Springfield  regatta  of  '73.  Next 
year  the  crew  finished  fourth  at  Saratoga,  being 
beaten  by  Columbia,  Wesleyan,  and  Harvard.  In 
1875  the  Hanoverians  were  again  fourth,  five  sec- 
onds behind  Harvard  and  beating  Yale,  with  "  Bob  " 
Cook  at  stroke  oar.  • 

From  that  moment  of  what  was  rightfully  con- 
sidered a  good  deal  of  a  triumph,  Dartmouth  has 
never  put  a  Varsity  shell  into  the  water.  A  tre- 
mendous snowfall  in  the  winter  of  1877  crushed  in 

248 


"  DARTMOUTH  OUT  -  O'  -  DOORS  " 

the  boathouse  and  smashed  the  shell;  seemingly  it 
crushed  the  heart  out  of  rowing,  in  which  the  col- 
legians had  played  so  creditable  a  role.  This  form 
of  athletics  appears  to  be  dead  at  Hanover,  and  no 
one  can  be  found  there  who  will  venture  to  predict 
its  resurrection. 

Modern  football  —  "  Rugby  ",  as  it  was  called  in 
its  early  days  of  evolution  among  the  American 
colleges  —  was  late  in  arriving  at  Hanover.  Har- 
vard, Princeton,  and  Yale  had  for  some  time  been 
at  their  triangular  annual  contests  before  Dartmouth 
knew  the  pigskin  well.  When  at  various  times  the 
matter  was  broached,  the  faculty,  who  tolerated  the 
fierce  cane-rush,  demurred  on  the  ground  that  the 
game  was  too  "  rough."  Even  a  part  of  the  students 
frowned  on  it,  though  not  for  that  reason,  cer- 
tainly. They  feared  that  the  pastime  was  too  much 
an  aping  of  effete  England  and  that  it  would  tend 
to  produce  a  race  of  effeminates!  They  were  soon 
to  see  that  notion  exploded  with  loud  reverberations 
over  the  Hanover  plain. 

In  spite  of  opposition,  the  football  feeling  gained 
steadily.  Clarence  Howland,  '84,  did  much  to  es- 
tablish the  new  game.  A  magnificent  player  and  a 
man  of  means,  he  helped  the  cause  physically  and 
financially.  Exeter  men  began  to  come  up  to  the 
college  with  football  training.  In  1880  the  elements 

249 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

for  the  sport  were  strong  enough  to  force  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Dartmouth  Rugby  Football  Associa- 
tion, and  an  eleven  was  put  on  the  field.  There  were 
no  intercollegiate  games  that  year,  but  in  1881  two 
contests  were  arranged  with  Amherst,  Dartmouth 
winning  the  first  and  tying  the  second.  On  Novem- 
ber 9,  1882,  came  the  first  game  with  Harvard,  and 
the  score  of  53  to  o  showed  the  wearers  of  the  green 
that  they  knew  very  little  of  the  game.  But  that 
catastrophe,  too,  was  amply  avenged  in  1903,  when 
the  Dartmouth  eleven,  perhaps  the  most  powerful 
that  ever  swept  over  a  gridiron,  dedicated  the 
Stadium  with  a  Harvard  defeat,  1 1  to  o. 

After  the  first  Harvard  game,  however,  things 
looked  bad  for  football  at  Hanover.  The  Dart- 
mouth, under  the  heading  "  Rugby  Is  Dead  ",  said 
editorially:  "  It  is  our  sad  duty  to  conduct  the 
melancholy  obsequies.  .  .  .  There  was  no  doubt, 
no  mystery  about  its  death,  and  an  inquest  is  totally 
unnecessary  .  .  .  and  now  if  there  is  any  other 
game  that  Dartmouth  can  play  better  than  football, 
it  would  be  well  to  encourage  it." 

But  football  did  not  die.  It  survived  even  the 
ponderous  trouncing  administered  by  Yale  on 
Dartmouth's  ground  in  1884,  when  the  score  was 
113  to  o  for  the  blue.  It  survived  many  another 
defeat,  victories  coming  along  in  due  time.  Under" 

250 


"  DARTMOUTH  OUT  -  O'  -  DOORS  " 

the  coaching  of  such  men  as  McCornack,  Folsom, 
O'Connor,  and  Cavanaugh,  the  elevens  of  Dart- 
mouth have  been  made  formidable  fighting  aggre- 
gations and  have  long  since  been  reckoned  with  as 
among  the  best  in  the  college  world  every  season. 
From  the  humble  beginnings  at  Harvard,  when  a 
few  of  the.  faithful  sat  along  the  side-lines  to  cheer 
the  eleven  in  its  regular  defeats,  Dartmouth  finally 
arrived  at  the  importance  of  being  able  to  draw  a 
crowd  of  forty  thousand  spectators  to  the  Stadium 
to  witness  the  annual  battle  between  the  crimson 
and  the  green. 

In  field  and  track  athletics,  Dartmouth  has  not 
until  recently  cut  a  very  important  figure  among 
the  largest  colleges.  In  her  old-time  class,  however, 
she  has  long  been  customarily  victorious,  winning 
the  New  England  Intercollegiate  championship 
(Harvard  and  Yale  have  never  been  members)  for 
the  great  majority  of  years  in  which  the  association 
has  existed. 

The  first  local  field  meet  was  held  in  the  fall  of 
1875,  with  such  ancient  exotics  as  the  three-legged 
race,  the  sack  race,  and  the  wheelbarrow  race  on  the 
list  of  events.  The  initial  outside  appearance  of 
her  athletes  was  at  Glen  Mitchell,  New  York,  in 
July,  1876,  when  they  won  several  events  in  a  field 
consisting  of  Princeton,  Yale,  Cornell,  Columbia, 

251 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

Williams,  Wesleyan,  and  the  University  of  the  City 
of  New  York.  At  Mott  Haven,  in  1877,  a  Dart- 
mouth man  won  the  half-mile  and  the  quarter-mile. 
Dartmouth  won  the  first  meet  of  the  New  England 
Intercollegiate  Athletic  Association  held  at  Charter 
Oak  Park,  Hartford,  May  27,  1887. 

Of  late  years  Dartmouth  has  been  consistently 
growing  stronger  in  the  "  big  "  Intercollegiates,  a 
result  due  partly  to  the  splendid  new  "  gym  ",  with 
its  facilities  for  practising  practically  all  of  the 
outdoor  sports  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  partly 
to  the  fine  and  inspiring  labors  of  Harry  Hillman, 
the  track  and  field  coach.  The  alumni  control  of 
athletics,  established  in  1892,  has  also  been  of  great 
value  as  an  inspiration  toward  success  in  all  branches, 
as  a  financial  ally,  and  as  a  wise  guardian  of  what  is 
clean  and  honorable  in  amateur  sport.  Dartmouth 
is  to-day  in  the  very  first  rank  in  her  punctilious 
regard  for  pure  athletics.  It  is  not  a  pose,  but  a 
conviction.  It  governs  the  conduct  of  the  sports 
just  mentioned,  as  well  as  of  tennis,  golf,  hockey, 
and  basketball,  in  all  of  which  good  records  have 
been  made. 

One  more  asset  of  "  Dartmouth  out-o'-doors  ", 
unique  and  full  of  the  most  romantic  possibilities, 
is  the  "  Dartmouth  Grant  ",  the  splendid  domain 
of  twenty-six  thousand  acres  of  wild  forest,  moun- 

252 


,'  !  ^    ; 


The  Alumni  Gymnasium 


'  DARTMOUTH   OUT  -  O'  -  DOORS  " 

tain,  and  stream  up  in  the  "  North  Country."  This 
great  territory  lies  in  the  northeast  corner  of  New 
Hampshire,  edging  the  State  of  Maine  for  eight 
miles.  No  shrieks  of  locomotives  disturb  its  quiet, 
for  the  nearest  railway  station  is  thirty-two  miles 
away.  In  its  wilderness  are  five  mountains  more 
than  two  thousand  feet  high;  two  gloriously  pic- 
turesque rivers,  Swift  Diamond  and  Dead  Diamond; 
innumerable  brooks,  and  all  about  the  deep  forest, 
broken  only  by  the  hundred-acre  clearings  fcr 
the  "  college  farm  "  in  the  center  of  the  tract  and 
the  "  Davis  farm  "  at  the  southeastern  entrance  to 
the  property.  On  one  of  its  rivers  a  canoe  can  float 
for  twenty  miles.  Everywhere  wild  life  abounds, 
but  in  peace,  unharassed  by  gunpowder.  Dart- 
mouth protects  her  tenants  under  old  Dame  Nature's 
lease. 

The  future  uses  of  this  forest  principality  delight 
the  imagination.  What  will  the  "  Grant  "  see  and 
be  in  a  hundred  years?  In  five  hundred?  Wilder- 
ness still,  kept  in  virgin  glory  from  the  ravages  of 
an  advancing  civilization,  or  the  sylvan  seat  of  a 
great  department  of  the  college?  At  present  its 
utility  is  the  furnishing  of  lumber  under  a  wise 
system  of  modern  forestry.  It  will  never  be 
"  stripped  ",  let  us  believe,  to  naked  land  and 
savage  rock. 

253 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

What  an  opportunity  is  here  for  the  school  of 
forestry  that  Dartmouth  may  one  day  establish. 
What  a  realm  of  delight  for  the  summer  camp  of 
some  Dartmouth  Outing  Club  of  the  future,  that 
may  "  hike  "  in  a  body  to  the  enchanted  land  of  the 
northern  "  out-o'-doors."  Happy  the  college,  and 
happy  the  college  men,  who  can  still  carry  the 
ancient  seal  into  their  own  lands  and  there  let  its 
legend  speak  again,  and  as  appropriately  as  in  the 
days  of  the  founding:  "  Fox  Clamantis  in  Deserto." 


254 


CHAPTER  XV 

WHAT   MEN    DO   AT   DARTMOUTH 

DARTMOUTH  is  still  a  college.  It  adopts  men 
into  the  academic  family  on  fairly  easy  terms, 
but  it  compels  them  to  prove  their  intellectual  and 
moral  fitness  to  remain,  or  out  they  go  without  much 
ceremony.  Every  year  a  sizable  band  of  lazy  or 
over-confident  freshmen  is  given  its  passports. 
Sometimes  this  coterie  contains  the  most  promising 
athletic  material  of  a  class,  but  that  consideration 
weighs  not  at  all  in  the  councils  of  the  faculty.  The 
Governor  John  Wentworth  charter  is  older  than  the 
Alumni  Gymnasium,  and  the  charter  has  certain 
things  to  say  about  the  general  intent  of  the  college. 
Those  things  are  still  respected.  Men  are  still  per- 
sonally trained  in  classroom  recitations  as  well  as 
in  lectures  and  examinations.  They  are  still  held  to 
the  performance  of  a  definite  excellence  in  mental 
work  as  represented  by  professorial  figures.  If  they 
object  to  this  as  a  form  of  ancient  inquisition,  they 
are  at  liberty  to  resign,  and  often  they  are  asked  to. 
As  to  what  men  do  at  Dartmouth,  then,  it  may  be 
255 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

said  that  primarily  they  work  at  such  varied  forms 
of  the  higher  education  as  they  may  select  out  of  a 
liberal  variety.  But  they  work,  or  they  know  Han- 
over but  briefly. 

Of  student  interests  outside  the  regular  curricu- 
lum there  is  today  a  wide  choice,  suited  for  men  of 
all  sorts  of  tastes,  compared  with  the  narrow  range 
of  things  to  do  a  generation,  or  less,  ago.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  students  of  the  present  conduct 
themselves  more  sensibly  than  in  older  times  be- 
cause there  are  so  many  congenial  outlets  for  their 
particular  kinds  of  effervescence.  Turkey-stealing, 
rum-drinking  and  horning  have  gone  into  the  dust- 
bin of  disused  traditions  in  favor  of  Outing  Club 
trips,  or  dramatic  performances  or  Social  Service 
or  of  half  a  dozen  other  activities  of  as  much  appeal, 
but  less  potentiality  for  trouble.  And  if  any  "  old 
timer  ",  any  product  of  the  Iron  Age  at  Hanover, 
should  chance  to  fear  that  the  change  in  student 
avocations  and  pleasures  is  in  danger  of  producing 
a  race  of  prigs  and  weaklings,  a  visit  to  the  old  town 
in  Winter  Carnival  week  would  be  sufficient  to  drive 
that  dismal  notion  entirely  from  his  head.  The 
ancient  and  highly  characteristic  idea  of  Dartmouth 
manhood  seems  as  potent  and  as  living  as  ever  it 
was. 

Men  have  more  luxuries,  of  course,  than  their 
256 


WHAT  MEN   DO  AT  DARTMOUTH 

fathers  even  dreamed  of.  They  are  no  longer  living 
like  a  lot  of  anchorites,  for  the  college  has  seen  to 
it  that  they  are  comfortably  housed.  The  great 
increase  in  handsome  and  well-equipped  fraternity 
houses  in  recent  years  has  also  changed  the  manner 
of  living  to  some  extent,  but  not  to  the  cliquey  and 
dangerous  length  seen  at  some  other  colleges,  for 
here  again  the  wisdom  of  President  Tucker  was 
wonderfully  manifested  when  he  persuaded  the 
trustees  to  rule  that  no  fraternity  house  should 
contain  more  than  fourteen  men  and  that  none 
should  set  a  regular  table.  It  has  thus  been  made 
impossible  that  any  set  of  students  exist  within  a 
fraternity  shell.  Somewhere,  three  times  a  day, 
they  must  all  associate  with  other  men. 

If  the  problems  of  fraternity  scholarship,  which 
is  proven  poorer  than  that  of  non-fraternity  men 
at  Dartmouth,  and  the  perennial  nuisance  of  the 
"  chinning  "  season  could  be  settled  as  adequately 
and  simply,  the  powers  that  be  at  Hanover  would 
be  happier.  However,  the  fraternity  question  is  in 
process  of  better  regulation  than  ever  before,  partly 
through  frank  and  free  conferences  of  society  dele- 
gates with  President  Nichols,  and  partly  from  a 
feeling  among  the  "  frat  "  men  that  there  may  be 
something  in  their  honorable  traditions  of  scholar- 
ship and  literature,  after  all. 

257 


THE   STORY  OF   DARTMOUTH 

There  are  now  eighteen  Greek  letter  societies  in 
the  college  proper,  the  oldest  of  which  is  Psi  Upsilon, 
founded  at  Dartmouth  in  1842,  and  the  youngest 
Delta  Sigma  Rho,  established  in  1910.  One,  the 
Kappa  Kappa  Kappa,  is  local  only.1  These  chapters, 
which  include  about  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  students, 
have  always  maintained  their  connection  with  the 
parent  fraternities.  None  has  deteriorated  into  an 
expelled,  independent  club  bearing  a  parody  of  the 
old  mother's  name  and  active  chiefly  as  a  social 
organization  playing  fool  pranks  in  public.  In  that 
respect  the  history  and  the  present  status  of  the 
fraternities  at  Dartmouth  is  honorable.  Men  may 
not  take  them  very  seriously  as  uplifts,  but  they  do 
not  degrade  them  into  mere  accessories  for  eating 
and  drinking  and  the  doing  of  idiotic  "  stunts." 

Four  senior  societies  make  the  sum  total  of  Dart- 
mouth's desires  in  this  respect.  The  Sphinx,  founded 
in  1886,  has  an  effective  Eygptian  mausoleum  as  a 
meeting-place;  the  Casque  and  Gauntlet,  one  year 
younger,  owns  and  occupies  a  prim,  but  pleasant 


1  The  Greek  letter  societies  in  the  order  of  their  founding  at  Dart- 
mouth are:  Psi  Upsilon,  1842;  Kappa  Kappa  Kappa,  1842;  Alpha 
Delta  Phi,  1846;  Delta  Kappa  Epsilon,  1855;  Theta  Delta  Chi,  1869; 
iPhi  Delta  Theta,  1884;  Beta  Theta  Pi,  1889;  Sigma  Chi,  1893;  Phi 
Kappa  Psi,  1896;  Phi  Gamma  Delta,  1901;  Chi  Phi,  1902;  Phi  Sigma 
Kappa,  1905;  Kappa  Sigma,  1905;  Sigma  Phi  Epsilon,  1909;  Sigma  Nu, 
1507;  Sigma  Alpha  Epsilon,  1908;  and  Delta  Sigma  Rho,  1910. 

258 


WHAT   MEN  DO  AT  DARTMOUTH 

old-fashioned  dwelling-house,  lately  much  improved, 
on  the  busy  and  valuable  corner  opposite  College 
Hall.  The  Dragon,  still  younger,  occupies  the 
ancient,  square  "  Tri-Kappa  "  Hall.  The  Round 
Robin  is  purely  literary.  Election  to  these  organiza- 
tions is  a  distinction  highly  prized  by  each  junior 
class,  though  there  is  nothing  of  sycophantish  log- 
rolling for  "  making  "  the  senior  societies  that  has 
been  condemned  in  some  other  colleges. 

Palaeopitus  is  another  Dartmouth,  institution 
that  has  won  a  very  important  place  in  the  college 
life.  This  is  the  student  governing  body  of  the 
college.  A  board  of  eleven  members  of  the  senior 
class,  it  is  the  Hague  Conference  of  the  under- 
graduate body  and  the  official  intermediary  between 
the  faculty  administration  and  the  students.  Tra- 
dition alone  is  responsible  for  raising  the  Palaeo- 
pitus to  its  present  high  position,  and  upon  the  pres- 
tige that  it  has  attained  it  is  wholly  dependent  for 
its  power.  Election  to. this  body  is  probably  the 
most  substantial  recognition  of  ability  and  in- 
tegrity that  a  class  can  confer  on  one  of  its  mem- 
bers. It  may  be  safely  said  that  petty  politics  and 
fraternity  rivalries  rarely  interfere  with  the  election 
of  the  best  possible  men  from  the  successive  classes 
to  this  surprisingly  influential  group  of  men.  The 
relation  of  the  Palaeopitus  to  the  college  is  unique 

259 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

among  student  councils.  It  has  never  received  any 
specific  powers  from  the  administration  or  the 
student  body.  It  has  no  definite  duties  to  perform 
except  those  developed  by  the  usage  of  years.  In 
spite  of  this  fact,  the  resolutions  and  suggestions  of 
the  Palaeopitus  have  all  the  force  of  laws.  It  is 
now  an  institution  that  neither  undergraduates  nor 
faculty  would  like  to  see  abandoned. 

Phi  Beta  Kappa  survives  as  a  reward  for  the  first 
scholars  in  each  senior  class  —  for  all  receiving  a 
rank  of  eighty-five,  to  be  exact.  The  ancient  dame 
with  the  watch-key  carne  to  Hanover  in  1787,  from 
Cambridge.  In  those  days  she  was  a  secretive  soul, 
with  solemn  oaths  of  initiation,  a  mystic  cipher  and 
strange  symbols.  These  attributes  have  long  since 
disappeared,  as  well  as  the  term-time  meetings  of  the 
society.  In  its  old-time  state  it  was  distinguished 
every  third  year  by  a  Phi  Beta  Kappa  oration  on 
the  day  before  Commencement,  and  some  of  the 
greatest  of  American  minds  have  had  their  say  on 
these  occasions. 

For  men  who  feel  the  "  furor  scribendi  "  at 
Hanover  there  are  means  of  expression  adequate 
enough,  if  not  over  plentiful.  The  Dartmouth,  the 
triweekly  college  newspaper,  annually  calls  forth 
a  good-sized  crowd  of  freshman  "  leg-men,"  eager 
to  win  a  place  on  its  staff.  This  venerable  sheet, 

260 


WHAT  MEN  DO  AT  DARTMOUTH 

as  such  publications  go,  has  had  a  continuous  exist- 
ence since  1867,  when  it  was  revived  as  a  monthly 
after  a  suspension  of  twenty-six  years.  In  1875  it 
was  made  a  weekly  newspaper,  and  its  character 
has  more  and  more  tended  to  that  of  a  chronicler  of 
and  commentator  on  the  college  happenings  to  the 
exclusion  of  everything  else.  The  Dartmouth  is 
lively  and  enterprising,  and  occasionally  prods  the 
college  moguls  a  bit  sharply;  but  the  freedom  of 
the  press  is  pretty  well  respected  at  Hanover,  and 
nothing  happens  in  the  way  of  editorial  repression. 
The  Bema  is  the  direct  descendant  of  the  Dart- 
mouth Literary  Monthly,  established  in  1887,  and 
later  renamed  the  Dartmouth  Magazine.  It  is 
young  and  pretty,  with  excellent  illustrations,  in- 
teresting departments  and  better  than  average 
stories  and  poems.  '  Jack  0'  Lantern  ",  the  hu- 
morous monthly,  gives  the  wits  and  the  cartoonists 
their  chief  opportunity  nowadays  at  Hanover,  since 
the  Aegis,  the  junior  annual  founded  as  a  once-a- 
term  magazine  in  1858,  but  having  its  present  form 
since  1871,  has  lost  much  of  its  former  penchant  for 
biting  and  sometimes  brutal  "  grinds  "  on  students 
and  faculty.  The  Dartmouth  Alumni  Magazine, 
now  six  years  old,  is  a  valuable  publication,  covering 
the  larger  forms  of  college  news  very  completely 
and  reflecting  editorially  —  and  often  briskly  —  the 

261 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

faculty  attitude  toward  college  events  and  student 
behavior. 

The  men  who  lean  toward  "  Music,  heavenly 
maid,"  are  variously  provided  for.  "  The  Handel 
Society  of  Dartmouth  College  ",  organized  in  1807 
"  to  improve  and  cultivate  the  taste,  and  promote 
true  and  genuine  music  and  discountenance  trifling, 
unfinished  pieces  ",  and  which  for  many  years  was 
accounted  one  of  the  best  choruses  in  New  England, 
is  dead.  The  College  Choir  in  some  measure  fills  its 
place.  Those  who  yearn  for  the  "  trifling,  un- 
finished pieces  "  may  find  solace  in  the  Glee  Club, 
with  its  guitar  and  mandolin  attachments.  Then 
the  freshman  who  can  play  any  instrument  reason- 
ably well  is  sure  of  a  warm  welcome  to  the  college 
band  and  the  orchestra.  The  annual  musical  come- 
dies give  many  aspirants  for  vocal  training  and 
honors  a  field  of  some  value. 

The  most  remarkable  development  of  student 
activities  of  recent  years  at  Dartmouth  is  the  rise 
and  success  of  the  Dramatic  Association.  This 
organization  has  broken  entirely  with  the  older 
tradition  that  college  players  must  devote  them- 
selves to  the  generally  trivial  stuff  produced  by 
college  writers.  It  presents,  and  produces  with 
adequate  scenery  and  costumes,  such  plays  as 
Maeterlinck's  "  The  Intruder ",  Lady  Gregory's 

262 


WHAT   MEN   DO  AT  DARTMOUTH 

"  The  Workhouse  Ward  ";  Maurice  Baring's  "  Kath- 
erine  Parr  ";  Witter  Bynner's  "  The  Little  King  "; 
Carl  Freybe's  "On  Leave  of  Absence";  W.  F. 
Locke's  "  The  Climax  "  and  Macdonald  Hasting's 
'  The  New  Sin."  In  the  spring  of  1914  the  asso- 
ciation moved  upon  New  York  and  gave  "  The  Mis- 
leading Lady "  for  two  matinees  at  the  Fulton 
Theatre,  where  the  piece  was  running  profession- 
ally. The  critics  were  unanimous  in  declaring  this 
to  be  the  best  college  student  performance  ever 
seen  in  New  York.  The  usual  feeling  that  college 
boys  were  masquerading  in  the  spirit  of  a  lark 
seemed  to  have  been  lost  altogether  in  admiration 
of  the  sincerity  and  real  dramatic  values  of  the 
presentation. 

That  this  new  and  extraordinary  feeling  for  the 
art  of  the  stage  —  well  supported  by  the  student 
body  —  is  bound  to  have  its  effect  in  arousing  a 
love  for  the  best  of  drama  and  an  incentive  to 
serious  play-writing  at  Dartmouth  is  not  questioned 
anywhere.  Despite  the  time  and  energy  such  work 
demands  on  the  part  of  the  men  in  college,  the 
faculty  wisely  approves  the  movement,  as  giving  a 
certain  cultural  bit  of  education  that  could  be  ob- 
tained in  no  other  way. 

For  those  who  feel  the  call  to  public  pronounce- 
ments minus  stage  accessories  the  Dartmouth 

263 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

Forensic  Union,  with  its  annual  triangular  debating 
league  with  Williams  and  Brown,  is  accessible  to 
men  with  highly  developed  platform  ability.  The 
Lincoln-Douglas  Debating  Society  offers  a  wider 
field  for  the  oratorically  inclined,  while  "  Le  Cercle 
Fran?ais  ",  "  El  Centra  Espanol  "  and  the  "  Deut- 
scher  Verein  "  fill  their  customary  places  acceptably. 

On  the  more  serious,  but  by  no  means  sancti- 
monious side  of  life  at  Hanover  stands  the  Dart- 
mouth Christian  Association.  This  organization 
has  thirty  years  of  earnest  and  loyal  work  to  its 
credit,  and  from  its  home  in  Bartlett  Hall  has  gone 
forth  an  inspiration  to  manly  living  and  common- 
sense  Christianity.  Many  a  great  athlete,  wearing 
the  precious  "  D  "  on  his  breast,  might  also,  appro- 
priately enough,  have  added  "  C.  A."  to  his  badge 
of  accomplishment. 

The  Christian  Association  men  have  of  recent 
years  extended  the  movement  far  outside  the  old- 
time  bounds  of  Hanover.  Good  speakers,  magnetic 
fellows,  have  taken  up  social  service  in  many  of  the 
towns  and  villages  and  preparatory  schools  within 
a  radius  of  forty  miles.  This  is  called  "  deputation  " 
work.  It  is  not  too  solemn.  College  songs,  instru- 
mental concerts  and  vaudeville  "  stunts  "  are  often 
given -at  the  meetings  of  young  men  in  places  out- 
side Hanover.  Then  follows  some  simple,  sincere 

264 


Reed  and  Bartlett  Halls 


WHAT  MEN   DO  AT  DARTMOUTH 

talk  on  the  advantages  of  high  ideals,  of  fairness, 
clearness  and  unselfishness,  the  religious  appeal 
coming  last  as  the  most  impressioning  feature  of  the 
gatherings.  Boy  Scout  work  and  a  night  school 
for  Poles  at  the  mills  of  Wilder,  just  down  the  river, 
are  other  features  of  "  deputation  "  activity.  The 
Aegis  says  that  up  to  March  31,  1913,  more  than 
three  hundred  different  undergraduates  had  par- 
ticipated in  one  or  more  phases  of  the  Association's 
work.  Thus  is  regard  for  the  welfare  of  "  the  other 
fellow  "  being  inculcated  in  Dartmouth  men,  who 
have  long  been  considered  as  rather  too  sufficient 
unto  themselves. 

For  the  manifold  non-athletic  interests  in  Dart- 
mouth there  is  now  a  home  unique  among  the  col- 
leges. This  is  Robinson  Hall,  the  beautiful  one 
hundred  thousand  dollar  structure  just  north  of 
College  Hall.  It  was  an  inspiration  of  genius  that 
prompted  Wallace  F.  Robinson,  of  Boston,  to  the 
presentation  of  this  most  useful  of  buildings.  In 
making  the  gift  he  thus  expressed  his  feeling  in  the 
matter: 

"  Dartmouth's  student  organizations,  with  the 
exception  of  athletics,  are  in  need  of  adequate 
quarters  where  their  activities  may  be  properly 
concentrated  and  efficiently  controlled.  As  a  man 
of  affairs,  with  a  long  business  experience,  I  believe 

265 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

that,  suitably  housed  and  provided  with  the  means 
for  the  conduct  of  their  business  and  for  the  social 
intercourse  incidental  to  the  activities  of  young 
men  of  similar  tastes  and  abilities,  these  organiza- 
tions would  present  a  strong  counterpoise  to  athleti- 
cism on  the  one  hand,  and  to  social  cliques  on  the 
other.  They  would  thus  afford  a  just  balance  of 
intellectual  and  artistic  expression  as  against  bodily 
prowess  and  muscular  skill. 

"  In  order  to  insure  the  continued  democracy  of 
the  college,  I  have  stipulated  that  no  organizations 
shall  make  use  of  the  building  except  those  in  which 
the  qualifications  for  membership  is  proved  ability 
only." 

In  this  clearing-house  of  the  esthetic  side  of 
Dartmouth's  student  life  are  many  mansions.  No 
more  do  the  college  publications'  staffs  depend  on 
their  studies  or  a  dingy  room  over  some  store  for 
editorial  quarters.  Each  has  a  large,  handsome  set 
of  rooms,  beautifully  furnished  —  perhaps  too  beauti- 
fully for  embryo  journalists,  who  must  some  day,  if 
they  persist,  have  a  rude  awakening  to  the  realities 
of  real  newspaper  offices.  There  are  rooms  for  the 
literary  societies,  for  the  band  (cannily  built  at  the 
top  of  the  building  with  sound-proof  walls  and  doors) 
and  for  the  various  other  non-athletic  organizations. 
There  are  a  couple  of  comfortable  general  assembly 

266 


WHAT  MEN  DO  AT  DARTMOUTH 

rooms  and  a  daintily  appointed  ladies'  room.  And 
in  a  rear  extension  is  a  lovely  little  theatre  seating 
four  hundred  and  perfectly  equipped  for  the  re- 
hearsals and  trial  performances  of  the  Dramatic 
Association. 

Here,  at  Hanover,  then,  is  the  first  collegiate 
attempt  to  give  to  student  activities  not  connected 
with  athletics  proper  recognition  and  encourage- 
ment by  means  of  adequate  and  dignified  quarters. 
It  aims  toward  both  the  business  and  the  social 
development  of  these  organizations.  Its  working 
out  will  be  worth  the  attention  of  all  those  institu- 
tions of  learning  in  which  prowess  on  the  gridiron, 
or  the  track,  or  the  diamond  has  created  a  species 
of  hero-worship  not  always  healthful  to  the  other 
and  certainly  no  less  valuable  activities  of  a  student 
body. 


267 


CHAPTER  XVI 

WHY   MEN    GO    TO    DARTMOUTH 

WHY  men  go  to  any  college  is  a  question  that 
the  alumni,  trustees,  and  faculty  of  each 
institution  may  best  answer  from  their  different 
standpoints.  Why  men  went  to  Dartmouth  fifty 
or  even  twenty-five  years  ago  was  no  problem  at 
all.  They  went  mainly  because  Dartmouth  was 
the  only  college  in  New  Hampshire,  or  because 
their  fathers  or  other  relatives  had  gone  there  before 
them.  None  went  because  it  was  "  the  thing  to 
do  ",  and  few  go  now  for  any  such  reason.  Dart- 
mouth has  never  become  socially  great. 

But  the  question  that  was  easy  to  answer  in  the 
iron  age  of  the  college  is  not  so  easy  in  the  golden 
age.  The  old  reasons  amply  accounted  for  an  enter- 
ing freshman  class  of  sixty-five;  they  fail  to  explain 
the  motives  that  bring  some  four  hundred  new 
candidates  for  entrance  into  the  Hanoverian  "  groves 
of  the  academy  "  each  year,  and  bring  them  from 
all  parts  of  the  United  States. 

Dartmouth's  claim  to  the  title  of  the  national 
268 


WHY  MEN   GO  TO  DARTMOUTH 

college  is  well  founded.  She  has  more  students 
from  outside  New  Hampshire  than  has  Harvard 
from  outside  Massachusetts.1  Scores  travel  half- 
way across  the  continent  at  least  twice  each  year 
for  the  sake  of  being  Dartmouth  men.  There  has 
been  nothing  more  astonishing  in  the  forward  march 
of  the  college  in  the  last  twenty  years  than  this 
successful  appeal  to  the  country  at  large.  What  is 
there  in  the  bugle-call  from  the  hills  that  is  so  potent 
in  rallying  young  men  to  the  green  banner? 

One  man,  Professor  F.  A.  Updyke,  freshman  class 
officer  for  the  college  year  1912-1913,  decided  that 
an  illuminating  answer  to  the  question  might  come 
from  the  freshmen  themselves,  and  he  instituted  a 
poll  of  the  three  hundred  and  eighty-one  entrants 
to  the  class  of  1916.  He  found  that  of  this  number 
but  seventy-five  had  fathers  who  were  college  grad- 
uates, and  only  twenty- two  had  fathers  who  had 
been  to  Dartmouth.  Of  the  whole  number  eighty- 
three  had  professional  men  for  fathers.  The  poll 
of  reasons  for  coming  to  Dartmouth  turned  out  as 
follows:  influence  of  relatives  in  or  out  of  college, 
forty-two;  influence  of  Dartmouth  graduates  and 
undergraduates,  one  hundred  and  forty-one;  loca- 
tion of  college,  forty-six;  size  of  the  college,  twelve; 
plan  of  admission,  eighteen;  reputation  and  spirit 

1  The  college  proper  is  meant  in  each  instance. 

269 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

of  the  college,  eleven;  lower  expense  of  education 
in  Dartmouth,  ten;  athletics,  five;  Tuck  School, 
ten;  Thayer  School,  thirteen. 

So  the  great  propulsive  force  that  sends  men  to 
Dartmouth  is  the  proselyting  work  of  Dartmouth 
men,  both  in  and  out  of  college.  Nobody  who  has 
ever  seen  a  body  of  Dartmouth  alumni  in  action 
can  doubt  it.  Their  enthusiastic  zeal  in  persuading 
boys  and  parents  that  the  one  place  ordained  by 
an  all-wise  providence  as  a  college  seat  is  Hanover, 
and  that  the  one  college  worthy  to  occupy  such  a 
situation  is  Dartmouth,  produces  results,  as  the 
facts  show. 

Along  these  lines  of  endeavor  the  recently  or- 
ganized alumni  council  is  expected  to  be  still  more 
productive.  This  organization,  founded  in  1913, 
is  made  up  of  twenty-five  representatives  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  elected  by  general  vote  of  the 
alumni.  It  is  to  meet  in  conference  at  least  once  a 
year.  Perhaps  its  intended  province  can  best  be 
expressed  in  the  statement,  that  it  is  expected  to 
be  "  a  clearing-house  for  alumni  sentiment  "  and 
a  court  for  the  approval  or  disapproval  of  alumni 
projects.  Undoubtedly  it  also  will  devote  its  ener- 
gies to  the  raising  and  handling  of  alumni  funds  for 
the  college  and  for  the  maintaining  of  the  supply 
and  quality  of  its  students.  For  this  work  President 

270 


WHY  MEN   GO  TO  DARTMOUTH 

Emeritus  Tucker  has  made  a  suggestion  that  might 
be  considered  radical  were  it  not  that  his  far-seeing 
wisdom  has  so  often  been  triumphantly  proven. 

"  If  Dartmouth  is  to  maintain  a  national  constit- 
uency," says  Doctor  Tucker,  "  it  must  localize  its 
constituency.  Why  not  make  Cleveland,  Detroit, 
Omaha,  Denver,  and  like  centers  permanent  sources 
of  supply?  If  five  or  six  scholarships  were  estab- 
lished at  each  of  such  centers,  giving  sufficient  in- 
come to  cover  tuition,  at  least,  they  would  secure  a 
steady  supply  of  first-class  and  therefore  influential 
students.  Each  man  so  provided  for  would  bring 
others  with  him,  and  in  time  the  college  would 
come  to  have  a  recognized  place  in  the  life  of  the 
community.  But  to  reach  this  result,  it  would  be 
absolutely  necessary  to  make  an  outright  endow- 
ment of  a  given  school  or  of  the  local  board  of  edu- 
cation for  this  purpose.  A  scholarship  or  a  system 
of  scholarships,  which  might  be  withdrawn  at 
pleasure,  would  produce  little  impression  on  a 
school  or  community.  An  outright  endowment 
would  give  the  unmistakable  impression  that  Dart- 
mouth was  proposing  to  make  a  home  for  itself  in 
that  locality." 

That  forty-six  men  of  a  single  class  came  to  Dart- 
mouth because  of  the  location  of  the  college  is  sig- 
nificant of  two  things:  that  the  glories  of  "  Dart- 

271 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

mouth  out-o'-doors  "  are  beginning  to  impress 
themselves  far  and  wide,  and  that  fathers  and 
mothers  appreciate  the  situation  of  a  college  that 
has  no  easy  access  to  the  flashy  fascinations  of 
metropolitan  evil.  If  a  Dartmouth  student  wants 
to  be  "  tough  ",  he  has  to  make  a  very  deliberate 
and  inconvenient  business  of  it.  Some  occasionally 
do  just  that,  of  course,  but,  says  the  Alumni  Maga- 
zine, "  the  sooner  they  learn  that  if  Dartmouth 
were  situated  five  miles  from  Boston,  it  would  cease 
to  be  Dartmouth,  the  better  for  them  and  for  the 
college."  That  sentiment  seems  to  have  won  favor 
with  a  quite  considerable  number  of  "  the  old  folks 
at  home  ",  who  feel  that  as  Hanover  cannot  be 
accused  of  turning  out  milksops,  neither  has  she  any 
ready  facilities  for  the  production  of  youthful 
"  rounders." 

This  "  magnificent  isolation  "  is  the  chief  glory 
and  hope  of  those  who  rule  the  college  —  and  that 
means  the  alumni  of  Dartmouth,  as  well  as  its 
trustees  and  faculty.  President  Nichols  has  an  in- 
teresting theory  that  Dartmouth,  and  possibly 
Princeton,  will  alone,  of  all  the  larger  eastern  col- 
leges, be  found  on  their  present  sites  five  hundred 
years  from  to-day.  He  points  out  how  all  of  the 
others  are  even  now  pressed  hard  upon  by  the  tight- 
ening coils  of  industry,  or  commerce,  or  city  devel- 

272 


Observatory  Slope 


WHY  MEN   GO  TO  DARTMOUTH 

opments,  and  how  they  are  even  now  compelled 
either  to  tear  themselves  up  by  the  roots  and  trans- 
plant their  academic  groves,  or  burst  through  their 
hard  urban  bonds  and  expand  in  some  terribly 
costly  way. 

Dartmouth,  on  her  splendid  plateau,  is  scores  of 
miles  from  any  city.  No  stretch  of  the  imagina- 
tion, spanning  even  half  a  millennium,  can  picture 
her  as  beset  by  other  interests  than  her  own.  But 
she  is  taking  nothing  for  granted.  Steadily  she  is 
acquiring  outpost  lands  in  every  direction.  By  and 
by  nothing  can  even  remotely  threaten  her.  To-day 
there  is  not  a  man,  woman,  or  child  in  the  village 
but  is  dependent  in  some  way  upon  the  college  for  a 
livelihood.  She  is  the  summum  bonum  of  Han- 
over, and  without  her  the  place  would  revert  to 
nature. 

Thus  the  college  is  securely  looking  far  into  the 
ages  and  beginning  to  plan  on  a  vast  scale  that  is  as 
yet  but  whispered,  but  which  is  impressively  hinted 
at  by  the  splendid  new  boulevard  among  the  pine- 
clad  ravines  from  the  river  to  the  campus  through 
the  great  Hitchcock  estate,  which  now  gives  the 
institution  a  tract  from  the  heart  of  the  college  to 
the  bluff's  overlooking  the  Connecticut. 

Dartmouth  is  frankly  proclaiming  her  belief  that 
she  will  be  where  she  is  a  thousand  years  from  now, 

273 


THE   STORY   OF  DARTMOUTH 

and  that  she  will  be,  as  Oxford  in  England,  almost 
alone  in  the  great  antiquity  of  her  home.  If  that 
be  called  a  vision,  it  is  certain  that  it  illumines  many 
a  forward-looking  heart  on  the  Hanover  plain. 

Some  men  come  to  Dartmouth,  as  has  been  shown 
by  the  1912  test,  because  the  cost  of  education  here 
is  relatively  small.  Not  so  many  come  for  that 
reason  as  in  the  old  days,  but  still  a  respectable 
number  —  perhaps  more  than  cared  to  admit  it  in 
the  freshman  catechism.  That  expenses  are  low 
may  be  seen  by  the  following  table  included  in  a 
circular  sent  to  applicants  for  scholarship  aid  by 
Dean  Laycock: 

The  college  expenses  put  at  the  minimum  and 
average  may  be  rated  as  follows: 

MINIMUM  AVERAGE 

Tuition,  with  college  bills  ............   $140.  $140. 

Text-books  ........................        15  .  30. 

Instruments  (if  Graphics  is  taken)       .  .  12. 
Laboratory  fees  per  course  (if  courses 

are  elected)  $3.00  ................          6.  15. 

Room-rent  in   college   building   (inclu- 

ding heat  and  care;  room  unfurnished)       50.  loo. 

Lights  .............................         4  .  6  . 

Board   (36  weeks,  $4.oo-$6.oo)  .......      140.  180. 

Laundry  ..........................        15  .  30. 


274 


WHY  MEN   GO  TO  DARTMOUTH 

Summing  up  this  important  point,  an  officer  of  the 
college  once  replied  to  a  New  York  newspaper's 
query  on  the  subject  that:  "A  Dartmouth  under- 
graduate with  seven  hundred  dollars  a  year  to  his 
credit  can  not  only  go  through  college,  but  can, 
as  well,  partake  of  some  of  the  joys  of  life  in  the 
process." 

Scholarships  help  many,  the  tendency  of  late 
years  being  to  combine  them  into  fewer  and  larger 
ones.  Intra-collegiate  business  enterprises  fatten 
slender  pocketbooks  to  some  extent;  a  recent  inquiry 
showed  one  hundred  and  fifty  student  merchants 
in  varying  degrees  of  prosperity.  Tutoring,  acting 
as  monitors,  waiting  on  table  and  working  for  the 
townspeople  add  to  small  incomes  for  poor  men. 
"  A  student  at  Dartmouth  ",  says  President  Nichols 
understandingly,  "  may  bring  food  to  his  class- 
mate or  wash  a  citizen's  windows  without  the 
slightest  feeling  of  abasement  on  his  own  part  or  the 
least  dulling  of  comradeship  and  respect  on  the  part 
of  others  toward  him;  and  this  is  true  because  there 
is  no  serving  class  at  Hanover  to  which  he  can  be 
compared." 

The  "  spirit  of  the  college  "  is  modestly  set  down 
by  our  investigator  of  freshmen  as  drawing  eleven 
men  to  an  entering  class.  That  may  seern  a  small 
number,  but  it  is  only  technically  correct,  for  the 

275 


THE   STORY  OF  DARTMOUTH 

"  Dartmouth  spirit  ",  far-famed  and  more  clearly 
felt  than  described,  is  a  powerful  element  in  each 
of  the  other  drawing  motives,  especially  in  that 
which  is  aroused  by  the  work  of  alumni  and  under- 
graduates. In  some  psychological  way  the  "  Dart- 
mouth spirit  "  is  often  impressed  upon  a  young  man 
before  he  ever  sees  Hanover. 

Dartmouth  men  have  been  called  clannish  after 
their  college  lives.  "  They  stick  together  ",  the 
saying  is;  they  find  jobs  for  the  youngsters  just 
emerging;  they  solidly  endorse  Dartmouth  men  for 
appointive  offices;  they  even  show  political  unity 
when  a  Dartmouth  man  is  nominated  for  something 
or  other.  This  sometimes  vexes  the  onlooker, 
whether  he  be  from  some  other  college  or  from  none. 
But  possibly  he  fails  to  realize  the  power  of  ancestry 
and  inheritance. 

Dartmouth  men  were  compelled  to  be  clannish 
when  old  Eleazar's  axe-wielders  slashed  the  room 
for  their  huts  and  cabins  out  of  the  virgin  forests  of 
a  wilderness.  They  were  compelled  to  be  clannish 
for  years  afterward  in  the  hard  struggle  for  exist- 
ence. The  feeling  of  loyalty  and  oneness  got  into 
the  blood,  and  it  has  never  gotten  out.  To-day  the 
geographic  aloofness  of  the  college  still  works  its 
ancient  spell. 

President  Emeritus  Tucker,  than  whom  no  man 
276 


WHY  MEN   GO  TO  DARTMOUTH 

has  had  better  opportunity  or  capacity  for  knowing, 
once  wrote  to  an  inquirer  on  the  subject: 

'  You  ask  me  what  I  understand  to  be  the  mean- 
ing of  the  so-called  Dartmouth  spirit.  If  you  should 
ask  any  general  observer  how  the  Dartmouth  spirit 
differed  from  that  of  most  other  colleges,  he  would 
tell  you,  I  think,  that  the  difference  was  of  degree 
more  than  of  kind  —  that  there  was  simply  more  of 
it,  that  it  was  more  in  evidence,  more  easily  pro- 
voked, more  irrepressible.  The  answer  would  be 
true,  but  it  would  only  make  your  question  more 
interesting.  And  yet  there  is  no  mystery  about  the 
Dartmouth  democracy.  It  is  the  natural  outgrowth 
of  the  local  situation.  That  situation,  as  you  know, 
has  been  practically  unchanged  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years.  There  have  never  been  any  domi- 
nating or  disintegrating  influences,  political  or  social, 
at  work  from  without  upon  the  college  community. 
Naturally  there  has  grown  up  an  unusual  spirit  of 
democracy  which  they  found  here.  Probably  there 
is  no  college  where  students  are  more  closely  re- 
lated to  one  another,  or  more  personally  related 
to  the  college.  The  absence,  in  so  large  a  de- 
gree, of  organized  and  formal  relations  shows 
the  reality  of  this  underlying  and  almost  uncon- 
scious relation.  The  Dartmouth  democracy  grows 
as  the  result  of  an  accumulating  inheritance  and 

277 


THE   STORY   OF   DARTMOUTH 

of     a    steadfast     environment,     especially    of    the 
latter." 

Dartmouth  clings  to  compulsory  attendance  at 
chapel  every  week-day  morning.  She  surprises 
some  other  colleges  in  this;  she  is  looked  upon  as 
old-fashioned,  unduly  orthodox,  rather  lagging  be- 
hind in  the  procession  of  rationalism.  But  she  knows 
what  she  is  doing.  That  daily  gathering  when  the 
whole  college  sees  itself,  feels  its  solidarity,  looks 
itself  over  and  rejoices  in  its  strength,  does  more 
for  Dartmouth  loyalty  and  the  Dartmouth  spirit 
than  any  other  one  element  that  can  be  found  in 
Hanover.  Chapel  is  the  only  place  where  the  whole 
college  foregathers  —  for  even  a  "  big  "  football 
game  has  its  absentees.  The  shouting  and  the 
tumult  must,  at  most,  be  sporadic.  Men  may  roar 
their  "  Wah-Hoo-Wahs  "  together  and  feel  that  the 
Dartmouth  spirit  has  something  to  do  with  the  game 
of  football.  But  football  is  only  thirty  years  old. 
From  the  day  when  the  "  Voice  "  first  thrilled  the 
wilderness,  "  Chapel  "  has  been.  It  is  the  one 
existing  exercise  of  the  college  that  has  come  down 
from  the  beginning  unchanged  and  unbroken. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  trend  toward  its  abolish- 
ment. Sleep-loving  students  may  grumble  at  it  in 
the  customary  undergraduate  way;  but  by  the 
time  they  reach  senior  year,  they  see  the  power  and 

278 


WHY  MEN   GO  TO  DARTMOUTH 

the  glory  of  the  ancient  rite,  and  they,  too,  would 
cling  to  this  altar  of  democracy,  if  it  were  threat- 
ened. 

Men  go  to  Dartmouth  for  many  reasons,  because 
Dartmouth  has  a  many-sided  appeal.  They  stay 
in  Dartmouth  because  they  have  earned  the  right, 
and  with  that  earning  they  imbibe  a  love  for  their 
college  that  challenges  the  admiration  of  even  those 
who  cannot  wholly  comprehend  it.  Men  come  out 
from  Dartmouth  to 

Stand  as  brother  stands  by  brother! 

Dare  a  deed  for  the  Old  Mother ! 
Greet  the  world,  from  the  hills,  with  a  hail! 

No  one  has  ever  yet  put  into  words  better  than 
those  three  lines  the  Dartmouth  spirit,  its  staunch 
comradeship,  its  eternal  devotion,  and  its  supreme 
confidence.  The  heritage  of  a  great  past  it  reckons 
as  the  guardian  of  a  greater  future. 


THE    END 


INDEX 


Adams,  Melvin  O.,  207 

&gis,  178,  261 

Allen,  Ethan,  66 

Allen,  Ira,  66 

Allen,  Ira  B.,  173 

Allen,  William,    101,    104,   113 

Alumni  Council,  270 

Appleton,  Samuel,  142 

Armistead,  Lewis  Addison,  212 

Arnold,  Benedict,  9 

Baker,  William  Lawrence,  163 

Barren,  Asa  T.,  173 

Baseball,  247 

Barstow,  J.  W.,  134,  137,  223 

Bartlett,  Ichabod,  107 

Bartlett,    Samuel    Col  cord,    183, 

189,  197 

"  Bed-bug  Alley,"  131,  226 
Bell,  Luther  V-,  153 
Bema,  The,  261 
Belknap,  Doctor  Jeremy,  48 
Bingham,  Harry,  187 
Bissell,  George  H.,  180 
Bissell  Gymnasium,  180 
Boston  Packet,  i 
Boston  Repertory,  92 
Brant,  Joseph,  17 
Brixam,  i 
Brown,  John,  154 
Brown,  President  Francis,  97,  98 

106,  117 


Brown,  Reverend  Francis,  5,  201, 

213,  215 

Brown  University,  10 
Bull,  Ole,  233 
Bunker  Hill,  57 
Butterfield  Hall,  208 
Butterfield,  Ralph,  208 
Burnham,  Franklin  James,  163 
Burr,  Sanford  S.,  152 

Calvin,  Hezekiah,  17 

Cane  rush,  225 

Carter, "  Lil,"  235 

Chamberlain,  George  E.,  159 

Chamberlain,  William,  122 

Chandler,  Abiel,  142 

Chandler   Scientific   Department, 

142,  205 
Charter    of    Dartmouth    College, 

28,  29 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  174 
Choate,  Rufus,  81,  103,  106,  138 
Christian  Association,  264 
Cleaveland,  Reverend   Ebenezer, 

25 

College  cheer,  226 
College  Church,  90,  179 
College  Hall,  204 
"  College  Party,"  65,  66 
College  tower,  189 
Commencements,  231 
Concord  Gazette,  93 


281 


INDEX 


Concord  Patriot,  93 
Connecticut  River,  33,  48,  65 
Continental  Congress,  47 
Crandall,  Richard  Bailey,  161 
Crane,  John,  33,  35 
Crosby,  Nathan,  102 
Cross,  David,  213 
Crosby,  Professor  Alpheus,  119 
Cube  Mountain  Cabin,  245 
Cushman,  Oliver  Tucker,  161 

Dana,  President  Daniel,  118 
Dartmouth  Alumni  Magazine,  261 
"  Dartmouth  Belligerents,"  180 
Dartmouth  College 

alumni  representation,  196 
ancient  chapel,  76 
ancient  rules,  68,  120,  136 
Centennial,  172 
complaint  of  bad  food,  50 
first  Commencement,  41 
first  main  building  erected,  40 
"  group  "  system  adopted,  216 
growth  in  numbers,  76,  140 
Indian  students,  55 
lotteries,  73,  74,  79 
named,  28 
national  growth,  269 
plans  for  the  future,  273 
settled,  32 

students'  expenses,  274 
students'  uniform,  123 
Webster  Centennial,  212 
Dartmouth  College  Case,  107, 108, 

"3 

Dartmouth  Gazette,  93 
"  Dartmouth  Grant,"  252 
Dartmouth  Hall 

burned,  207 

completed,  75 


Dartmouth  Hall 
corner-stone  of  the  new  build- 
ing laid,  214 
"  Old  Chapel  "  in,  129 
remodeled,  129 
reading-room,  179 
Dartmouth  Hotel,  234 
Dartmouth  Magazine,  261 
Dartmouth,  second  Earl  of,  5,  n, 

72 
Dartmouth,  sixth  Earl  of,  5,  214, 

216 
Dartmouth  Literary  Monthly,  192, 

261 

Dartmouth  Outing  Club,  243 
"  Dartmouth  Phalanx,"  136 
"  Dartmouth  Roll  of  Honor,"  150 
"  Dartmouth  Spirit,"  276 
Dartmouth,  The,  260 
Dartmouth  University,  97,  101 
"  Dartmouth  Zouaves,"  151 
Dodge,  George  Webb,  158 
Douglas,  Charles  Lee,  151 
Dramatic  Association,  262 
De  Berdt,  Dennis,  4 
Dresden,  65,  66 
Duhigg,  Dennis,  160 
Duncan,  William  H.,  130 

Eastman,  Charles  A.,  10,  214,  216 

Eaton,  John,  157 

Edwards,  Morgan,  10 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  216 

"  English  Society,"  9 

Everett,  William,  213 

Fagging,  223 
Family  Visitor,  139 
Fayerweather  Row,  203 
Field  and  track  athletics,  251 


282 


INDEX 


"  First  sprout  of  the  college," 
Fletcher,  Richard,  171 
Football,  249 
Fort  Stanwix,  23 
Foster,  Daniel,  156 
Fowler,  David,  17,  18 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  72 
Franklin,  Governor,  23 
Frary,  "  Hod,"  234 
French,  B.  F.,  145 
"  Freshmen  beer,"  226 
Frisbie,  Levi,  41 
Frost,  E.  B.,  159 
Fuller,  Melville  W.,  213 
Fullerton,  William,  187 

Gallagher,  Charles  T.,  216 
Gates,  General,  63 
Gilpatrick,  Rufus,  154 
Glee  Club,  262 
Goodrich,  Chauncey,  109 
Gray,  Samuel,  42 
"  Great  Awakening,"  134 
"  Great  Road,"  37 
Greek  letter  societies,  258 

Haddock,  Charles  B.,  122 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  213 

Hancock,  John,  i 

Handel  Society,  262 

Hanover,  30 

Hardy,  Arthur  Sherburne,  192 

Harris,  F.  H.,  243 

Harvard  College,  106 

Hazing,  181 

Henry,  Patrick,  47 

Hill,  Isaac,  115 

Hoar,  George  Frisbie,  213 

Holmes,  John,  108,  112 

Hopkinson,  Joseph,  108,  112, 


34 


114 


"  Horning,"  134 
Hovey,  Richard,  192,  240 
Howe  Library,  141 
Rowland,  Clarence,  249 
Hubbard  Hall,  203 
Hunt,  Ebenezer,  153 
Huntington,  Reverend  Joseph,  56 
Hutchins,  Arthur  Edwin,  160 

Indian  Charity  School,  3,  io,  17 
"  Indian  Thomas,"  21 

"  Jack  O'Lantern,"  261 
Johnson,  Reverend  Jacob  W.,  23 
Johnson,  J.  E.,  245 
Johnson,  Sir  William,  17,  23 

Keen,  Robert,  7,  12 
Kendrick,  Ariel,  76 
"  Kibling's  Op'ry  House,"  236 
Kirkland,  Samuel,  18 

Ladd,  Nathaniel  Gould,  153 
Lansing,  Captain  A.  J.,  26 
Laws,  Solomon,  132 
Ledyard,  John,  240 
Leeds  house,  81 
Little,  Arthur,  159 
Lodge,  Henry  Cabot,  113 
London,  i,  5 
Lord,  John  K.,  174,  201 
^Lord,  President  Nathan,  126,  127, 

130,  137,  145-149,  174 
Loveland,  Aaron,  81,  84 

Marshall,  Captain  John,  i 
Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  108 
Mason,  Jeremiah,  107 
Massachusetts  Hall,  203 


283 


INDEX 


Mathematics,  obsequies  over,  227, 

229 

Mathewson,  Charles  F.,  215 
McCall,  Samuel  W-,  212 
McClure,  David,  38 
Mercury,  The,  65 
Merrill,  Thomas  A.,  86 
Miles,  Reverend  Noah,  54 
Mitchell,  Edward,  125 
Moose  Mountain  Cabin,  244 
Moulton,  Colonel  Jonathan,  30 

Nichols,   Ernest   Fox,    166,    219, 

244,  272,  275 
"  New  Connecticut,"  66 
New  gymnasium,  208 
New  Hampshire  Hall,  204 
New  Hampshire  Register,  115 
Noyes,  Edward  F.,  143 

Occom,  Samson,  2,  4,  6,  8,  215 
"  Old  Dud,"  235 
Old  Pine,  223 
Oliver,  Daniel,  122 
Oliver,  Henry  K.,  102,  104 

Palaeopitus,  259 
Parker,  Henry  Elijah,  155 
Parker,  Joel,  171 
Parkhurst  Hall,  211 
Parkhurst,  Lewis,  211 
Parkhurst,  Wilder  Lewis,  212 
Parkinson,  Royal,  156 
Payne,  Elisha,  64 
Penn,  Governor,  23 
Phi  Beta  Kappa,  260 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  80 
Phillips,  John,  46 
Pomeroy,  Benjamin,  88 
Portsmouth  Gazette,  93 


Portsmouth  Oracle,  93 

Pratt,  Daniel,  237 

President's  "  jewel,"  73 

"  Professor  of  Dust  and  Ashes," 

234 
Provincial  Assembly,  46 

Quarter  Days,  167 

Quint,  Alonzo  Hall,  156,  186 

Reed  Hall,  141 
Reed,  William,  141 
Revolutionary  War,  57 
Richardson,  Charles  F.,  192 
Richardson,  Reverend  Daniel  F., 

H3 

Richardson  Hall,  203 
Ripley,  Sylvanus,  33,  41,  46,  64 
Robinson  Hall,  265 
Robinson,  Wallace  F..  265 
Rood  House,  235 
Rollins,  Daniel  A.,  227 
Rollins,  Edward  Ashton,  189 
Root,  Elihu,  216 
Rowing,  248 
Royalton,  Vt.,  57 

Sanborn,  Edward  Webster,  213 
Scales,  John,  143 
"  Scotch  Society,"  9,  46 
Senior  Societies,  258 
Senior  "  Wet-Down,"  230 
Sherman,  Wrilliam  T.,  176 
Shumway,  Franklin  P.,  244 
Shurtleff,  Roswell,  78 
Simons,  Daniel,  58 
"  Sing-Out,"  230 
Skinner,  Joseph,  55 
Smith,  President  Asa  Dodge,  166, 
182 


284 


INDEX 


Smith,  Reverend  Charles  J.,  26 
Smith,  Jeremiah,  107 
Smith,  W.  T.,  173 
Social  Friends,  103 
Stage-coaches,  140 
Sullivan,  George,  107 

Taverns,  53 

Tenney,  Caleb,  87 

"  The  College  Cavaliers,"  152 

Thornton  Hall,  129 

Thornton,  John,  7,12 

Ticknor,  George,  100 

Tracy,  William  Carter,  162 

Tuck,  Edward,  209,  211 

Tuck  School,  209 

Tucker,  William  Jewett,  200,  202, 

215,  218,  257,  271,  276 
Tyler,  President  Bennett,  119,  126 

United  Fraternity,  103 
Updyke,  F.  A.,  269 

"  Vox  Clamantis  in  Deserto,"  32 

Washington,  George,  67,  72 
Webster,  Daniel,  80,  81,  82,  83, 
84,  85,  86,  87,  94,  109,  116,  138 
Webster  Hall,  207 
Wentworth,  Tappan,  171 


Wentworth,    Governor    Benning, 

27 
Wentworth,  Governor  John,   27, 

44,  So 

Wentworth  Hall,  129 
Wentworth,  "  Long  John,"  176 
Westminster  Convention,  65 
Wheeler  Hall,  203 
Wheeler,  John  B.,  106 
Wheelock,  Eleazar,  3,  44,  53,  55, 

58,  60,  6 1 

Wheelock,  James,  54,  72 
Wheelock,  John,  42,  46,  59,  63,  72, 

88,  95,  96,  98 

Wheelock,  Madame,  34,  43 
Wheelock,  Ralph,  19 
Whitaker,  Nathaniel,  2,  n,  60 
Whitefield,  George,  3,  n,  14 
Wilder,  C.  T.,  208 
Wilder  Hall,  208 
Wilson  Library,  189 
Wilson,  Woodrow,  220 
Windsor  ]\'ashingtonian,  93 
Winter  Carnival,  243 
Winter  teaching,  177 
Wirt,  William,  108,  112 
Wood,  Henry,  153 
Woodward,  Bezaleel,  37,  63 
Wolfeboro  Road,  45 
Woolley,  Joseph,  17 


285 


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